SAI approves Rs 20.21 lakh grant for Vinesh's trip to Europe

Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) of Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Thursday approved a grant of Rs 20.21 lakh for Olympic-bound woman wrestler Vinesh Phogat to train in Europe.

Vinesh secured Olympic berth in women's 53 kg freestyle event during the 2019 World Wrestling Championships. The 26-year-old Haryana wrestler will be based in Budapest (Hungary) until June 9 and will also compete in the World Ranking Series from June 9 to 13 in Poland.

Earlier, Vinesh had received financial assistance of Rs 1.13 crore from Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) for international exposure.

MOC has also approved a five-week international exposure tour for national men's double scull rowing team of Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh who have qualified for Tokyo Olympics. The two will train in Portugal from June 1 after Rs 21 lakh was approved for them.


Tennis players Divij Sharan and Rohan Bopanna's trip to international tournaments between January and June this year has also been approved for grants by TOPS.

Sharan would get a grant of Rs 80.59 lakh while Bopanna would get Rs 1.24 crore, which includes fee for coach Scott Davidoff and physio Gaurang Shukla.

Tennis player Ankita Raina, who recently broke into world top 100 in women's doubles and partnered Sania Mirza in Billie Jean King Cup has also been added to TOPS core group.


Wrestlers Seema Bisla and Sumit Malik, who have earned Olympic quota places in their respective weight categories, were recently included in TOPS core group. - IANS