Five shooters, two boxers and tennis player Ankita Raina were among eight athletes added to the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, a part of the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) with the objective of identifying and supporting potential medal prospects for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Manu Bhaker, Anish Bhanwala and Gaurav Solanki were the three Commonwealth Games gold medallists added to the TOPS list. Bhaker, 16, also has senior and junior ISSF Shooting World Cup gold medals to her name.
Bhanwala at 15 recently also won the Junior ISSF Shooting World Cup gold in Sydney to his burgeoning collection. CWG silver medallist Mehuli Ghosh has also been included in the list.
Fresh off a silver and a gold medal in successive Shooting World Cups at Guadalajara and Changwon, the 23-year-old Shahzar Rizvi was also recognised for his recent efforts, as was double CWG bronze medallist, Om Prakash Mitharwal.
Solanki wasn’t the only CWG boxing medallist in the list of eight as Hussamuddin Mohammad will also now be supported by TOPS after his bronze medal at Gold Coast.
The 25-year-old Ankita Raina, who became only the fifth Indian woman singles tennis player after Sania Mirza, Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Sunita Rao and Shikha Uberoi to break into the world’s top 200, was also a new addition to TOPS.