Four archers included in TOPS scheme for 2020 Tokyo Olympics; financial proposals worth Rs 34 lakh cleared

As many as four archers have been included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Mission Olympic Cell. Archers Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav and Atul Verma have been included in the program. Rai, Das and Jadhav were part of the Indian men’s recurve team that won silver in the recently-concluded World Archery Championships in Hertogenbosch in June. Their exploits at the Championships helped India bag a three-athlete quota for the 2020 Olympics. [caption id=“attachment_6822131” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das and Pravin Jadhav. Twitter@india_archery[/caption] Verma is a bronze medallist in boys’ recurve archery in the 2014 Youth Olympics. The names were announced in a meeting chaired by SAI director general Neelam Kapur in New Delhi. Financial proposals to support athletes from six different sports — amounting to Rs 34 lakh — were also cleared in the meeting. Among the beneficiaries of the financial proposals are wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Pooja Dhanda and Utkarsh Kale, with Dhanda receiving clearance for the purchase of sports goods. Additionally the committee also cleared the purchase of sports kit for table tennis star Manika Batra, as well as veteran paddler Sharath Kamal’s proposal to hire a physiotherapist for a period of 12 days. The committee also cleared the cost of medical treatment for tennis player Rohan Bopanna, who had suffered a knee injury during a tournament in June. The TOPS scheme is the flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, setup to support India’s Olympic hopefuls.