Paris-bound Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji to compete in two ATP events

NEW DELHI: Sports ministry's Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) has approved tennis ace Rohan Bopanna's request for assistance for him and his men’s doubles partner Sriram Balaji to compete in two ATP Tour events ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Bopanna and Balaji will head to Hamburg and Umaag along with their coach and physiotherapist to compete in the ATP 500 events before they head to Paris.
MOC also approved requests of shooters Rhythm Sangwan, Sarabjot Singh, Vijayveer and Anish Bhanwala for assistance towards expenses of personal coaches or trainers during the Olympic training camp in Volmerange and the Paris Olympic Games 2024 in Chateauroux.Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) will cover their cost of their flight, board and lodging, visa and local transport.
Skeet shooters Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka’s requests for assistance to train with personal coaches Riccardo Fillipelli in Arrezo, Italy, and Ennio Falco at the Tiro A Volo Falco range in Capua, Italy respectively were also approved by MOC. During the meeting, MOC decided to extend assistance to steeplechasers Avinash Sable and Parul Chaudhary as well as their coach Scott Simmons to training in St. Moritz, Switzerland, for 24 days before the Olympic Games.
The women’s relay 4x400m team’s request for assistance to procure equipment and table tennis player Harmeet Desai’s request to support training in Biberach, Germany, and the purchase of various consumables as well fee for support staff were also approved by the MOC. The MOC inducted 400m sprinter Kiran Pahal, High Jumper Sarvesh Anil Kushare and Shot Putter Abha Khatua in the TOPS Core group for the Paris Olympics Cycle.
Wrestlers Anshu Malik and Aman Sherawat will train in Japan and Russia respectively ahead of the Paris Games. Their proposals were among those approved by the MOC. Anshu requested support to train with four-time Olympic gold medallist Kaori Icho at the Nippon Sports Science University in Yokohama along with her coach Chitakara Tanabe, sparring partner and physiotherapist for 41 days. The 57kg class wrestler had trained at the Nippon University before the Olympic Qualifiers earlier this year and to work on her technique.
Meanwhile, freestyle wrestler Aman Sherawat will head to Dagestan, Russia to train at the international camp that will have grapplers from many nations including Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. He will travel with his sparring partner and physiotherapist to train in Dagestan for 30 days before leaving for Paris for the Olympic Games.
The MOC also approved overseas camps for Indian shooter Manu Bhaker and Para high-jumpers T Mariyappan and Nishad Kumar. Manu requested support to train with her personal coach at Luxembourg, Germany while Mariyappan and Nishad Kumar will train with coach Jeremy Fischer at Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, San Diego, USA.
During the meeting, MOC inducted rifle shooter Sandeep Singh and para athlete Preeti Pal in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Core group and promoted eight Olympic-bound athletes from Development to Core group. These are Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Singh Cheema, Rhythm Sangwan, Ramita, Anish and Esha Singh (Shooting) as well as Manu DP and Jyothi Yarraji (Athletics).
MOC also approved procurement of Game Ready equipment for archer Dhiraj Bommadevara, training equipment for racewalker Akshdeep Singh and financial support for coaching and support staff for Para Table Tennis player Bhavina Patel, Yoga Trainer, Psychologist /Mind Conditioning Coach and Assistant Coach for para shooters Manish, Rudransh, Rubina and Rahul and for physiotherapist for Para Badminton player Manasi Joshi during the 4 Nations Para Badminton International.