Govt approves foreign trips for Jyothi Yarraji, Shaili Singh to help bag Olympic berths

New Delhi: The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has approved proposals for multiple competitions submitted by athletes Jyothi Yarraji and Shaili Singh as the two aim to qualify for the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, here on Thursday

The Indian track and field athletes have sent in their requests for financial assistance towards various competitions across Europe for the coming month, where they will try to either breach the qualification mark or gather crucial ranking points for the Olympics.

While high hurdler Jyothi has proposed to compete in six international events in Europe, Shaili aims to take part in four competitions in May and June.

The MOC, under their Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) funding, will cover their airfare, visa costs, accommodation charges, local transport costs, medical insurance, physio charges, massage costs and OPA among other expenditures.

The MOC also approved proposals of badminton players Kiran George, Ayush Shetty and Rakshitha Sree for participation in competitions abroad.

Kiran has proposed to participate in the Malaysia Masters (BWF 500) while Ayush has requested financial assistance to participate in a Thailand Open along with Malaysia Masters.

Meanwhile, Rakshitha will head to Denmark to participate in the STATE Denmark Challenge followed by Slovenia Open in Ljubljana.

TOPS will fund their airfare, accommodation costs, insurance coverage, and visa costs among other expenditures.

The MOC also approved the proposals of table tennis players Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath. Both of them plan to compete in WTT Contender Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and WTT Contender Mendoza, Argentina with TOPS covering their airfare, hospitality package costs and Visa fees.

Besides foreign competitions, the MOC also approved the proposal of skeet shooter Anantjeet Singh Naruka’s plan to train in Italy with personal coach Ennio Falco before the World Cup, Baku and World Cup, Lonato.

The total training period for Anantjeet will be 20 days under coach Ennio Falco with TOPS covering his coaching fees, boarding/lodging cost, local transportation cost and expenditure for Ammunition & Clay targets.

During the meeting, MOC also inducted Indian badminton player Ashwani Ponnappa, Indian shooter Maheshwari Chauhan and rower Balraj Panwar into TOPS Core Group, with Ashwani’s doubles partner Tanisha Crasto also being promoted from Development to Core Group for Paris Olympics.

–IANS