Sports Ministry clears Sathiyan, Manika's proposals for financial assistance to compete in WTT events

NEW DELHI: Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) on Monday approved proposals of Table Tennis players Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra for financial assistance for participation in WTT Feeder events.

Sathiyan will head to Beirut, Lebanon to take part in WTT Feeder and WTT Feeder 2 events and Manika, along with her coach will head to Singapore to participate in WTT Singapore Smash followed by 2 WTT Feeder Tournaments in Beirut, Lebanon.

MOC also approved proposals for competition for shuttlers Kiran George and Anupama Upadhaya, doubles women’s team of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand and rifle shooter Rudrankksh Patil.

While Kiran and Anupama Upadhaya will participate in the BWF Orleans Master, the team of Treesa and Gayatri along with their coach and physio will head to Germany to compete in the BWF German Open.

Meanwhile, Rudrankksh will head to Dortmund, Germany to compete at the International Saison Start for Shooters (ISAS 2024) events.

Their airfare, boarding/lodging costs, entry fees (for Rudrankksh), training fees (for Rudrankksh), and local transportation costs, among other expenditures, will be covered under TOPS funding, the Ministry release read.

The ministry also approved paddlers Diya Chitale and Swastika Ghosh’s proposals for advanced level training in South Korea and Japan respectively.

While Diya will head for Paju-si, South Korea to train under Coach Shin Min Sung, Swastika Ghosh will go to Osaka, Japan to train under Coach Qiu Jian Xin.

MYAS, under its Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) funding will cover the athletes' Airfare, Boarding/Lodging costs, coaching fees, insurance and visa costs and local transportation costs among other expenditures.

Requests for various equipment for Athletes Paramjeet Singh Bisht, D P Manu, Rohit Yadav and Kapil were also cleared during the meeting.