Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra, badminton star PV Sindhu and shooter Anish Bhanwala have been extended additional training assistance by the Mission Olympic Cell of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of India.
After South Africa, Turkey will be the Tokyo 2020 Olympics javelin throw champion Neeraj Chopra’s next training destination. This after the MOC approved the Indian star’s proposal to train in Europe.
Neeraj Chopra, who is a Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) athlete, will train at the Gloria Sports Arena in Antalya for a period of 61 days. The government will cover all costs.
Neeraj Chopra will be in Turkey from April 1 to May 31 and will be accompanied by coach and biomechanics expert Klaus Bartonietz and his physiotherapist Ishaan Marwaha.
Neeraj Chopra hasn’t competed in 2023 till now and was training in Potchefstroom, South Africa. Chopra will be participating in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August and the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.
The MOC has also approved double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu’s proposal to meet the financial expenses of her coach Vidhi Chaudhary and fitness trainer Srikanth Madapalli.
The Indian badminton player will be participating in the Swiss Open 2023 starting on Tuesday after a disappointing Round 1 exit from the All England Open last week.
Shooter and world championships medalist Anish Bhanwala’s proposal to train under foreign coach Ralf Schumann in Germany has also been approved. Bhanwala will be training in Suhl for 28 days and is scheduled to fly out in the last week of March.
The MOC also approved financial assistance for procurement of golf equipment and hiring a personal coach, fitness and nutrition trainer for Deaf Olympics gold medallist Diksha Dagar.
Badminton player Priyanshu Rajawat will also receive funding towards participation in the Swiss Open, Spain Masters and Orleans Masters. Shuttler Sankar Muthusamy, meanwhile, will get financial aid to participate in the Orleans Masters, Polish Open and Slovenia Open