NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday included 12 sportspersons in its Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).
Six-time world champion and Olympic Bronze medallist Mary Kom is among 10 boxers who now come under TOPS.
Amit Panghal (men’s 52 kg), Sonia Chahal (women’s 57 kg), Neeraj (women’s 57 kg), Nikhat Zareen (women’s 51 kg), Kavinder Singh Bisht (men’s 57 kg), Lovlina Borgohain (women’s 69 kg), Vikas Krishan (men’s 75 kg), Shiva Thapa (men’s 63 kg) and Manish Kaushik (men’s 63 kg) were the other nine boxers added to the TOPS list.
The TOPS selection committee also declared 22-year-old shooter Yashaswini Singh Deswal and shuttler Sai Praneeth as the two names from other Olympic disciplines eligible for TOPS funding.
The athletes were chosen on the basis of these parameters: global performance trends from most recent Olympic Games, World Championships, Asian Games and Asian Championships, performance of competing international counterparts in the last three years, high performance age of a typical Olympic medallist specific to each event, performance of Indian athletes in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and their progression chart, feedback from NSF, high performance managers, project officers and coaches.
Besides the selection of athletes, financial proposals worth Rs 14 million were also cleared in 11 sporting disciplines – weightlifting, wrestling, shooting, archery, table tennis, athletics, badminton, tennis, para-badminton, para-archery and para-shooting, a release from the Sports Authority of India said.
