A list of 16 shooters got the nod for government support through the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) after a meeting of the Mission Olympic Cell of the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
The TOPS offers a monthly financial support of Rs 50,000 to the selected athletes.
“The performance of potential athletes was reviewed in the context of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. It was also decided to extend support towards a specific developmental group for the 2024 Olympics,” a Sports Authority of India (SAI) release said.
However, two of the leading shooters — Heena Sidhu and Jitu Rai — were kept in the pending list as the committee wanted to gauge their performance during the World Cup in New Delhi next February which would offer Olympic quota places.
The List:
Manu Bhaker (Women’s 10m Air Pistol), Mehuli Ghosh (Women’s 10m Air Rifle), Anish Bhanwala (Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol) Elavenil Valarivan (Women’s 10m Air Rifle), Lakshay Sheoran (Men’s Trap), Sanjeev Rajput (Men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions), Ravi Kumar (Men’s 10m Air Rifle), Deepak Kumar (Men’s 10m Air Rifle), Apurvi Chandela (Women’s 10m Air Rifle), Anjum Moudgil (Women’s 10m Air Rifle & Women’s 50m Rifle Three Positions), Saurabh Chaudhary (Men’s 10m Air Pistol), Abhishek Verma (Men’s 10m Air Pistol), Om Prakash Mitharval (Men’s 10m Air Pistol), Rahi Sarnobat (Women’s 25m Pistol), Kynan Chenai (Men’s Trap), Angad Veer Singh Bajwa (Men’s Skeet).
Apart from the 16, Hriday Hazarika (Men’s 10m Air Rifle), Divyansh Panwar (Men’s 10m Air Rifle), Shreya Agrawal (Women’s 10m Air Rifle), Aishwarya Pratap Tomar (Men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions), Esha Singh (Women’s 10m Air Pistol) and Manisha Keer (Women’s Trap) have been taken in the developmental group for the 2024 Olympics.
