The sports ministry’s Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) has approved an extension of javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra’s training in South Africa till April, while green-lighting customised international exposure and coaching for athletes in taekwondo and karate ahead of this year’s Asian Games.
In its 168th meeting here on Wednesday, the MOC also sanctioned financial assistance for rising squash star Anahat Singh’s strength and conditioning coach, and foreign exposure camps for para-athletes Varun Bhati and Sandeep Chaudhary.
Chopra, a two-time Olympic medal-winner, began his pre-season training in his preferred South African base of Potchefstroom in January and the ministry had initially given the go-ahead for a 32-day camp. He will now be training in Pretoria before starting his competitive season with the Doha Diamond League in May.
Overall, proposals to the tune of Rs 1.70 crore from various athletes were approved in Wednesday’s meeting. Keeping in mind the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, the Target Asian Games Group (TAGG) has approved support for Asian Championship bronze-winning taekwondo player Rodali Barua.
Her participation in five international competitions — Bulgaria Open, Slovenia Open, Dutch Open, Oceania Championships — has been approved by the MOC. All these are G2 level competitions, offering 20 ranking points to winners, crucial for Olympic qualification. She will compete in the 4th Mount Everest International Open Taekwondo Championship in Nepal this year. TAGG has approved Rs 21.20 lakh for her participation in these scheduled events over the months of February and March.
Another taekwondo athlete Rupa Bayor has also been sanctioned support under the TAGG Scheme for a physiotherapy and strength and conditioning (S&C) programme for a period of nine months until September. She is currently ranked 6th in the world and tops the Asian standings.
In karate, Bhuvneshwari Jadhav’s participation in three international competitions, along with a structured training programme were granted by MOC. The competitions are scheduled to be held in Rome (March 11-16), China (April 8-13), and Spain (April 22-27). She will also participate in a training programme under foreign coach Sulaymon Sharifovich, scheduled to be held in Tashkent in March.
“The total financial assistance put forward is Rs. 20.12 lakh, which also includes support for her coach Keerthan Kondru, and a Sparring Partner,” the MOC stated.
Financial Assistance for another Karate athlete, Alisha and her coach Vikas, has also been sanctioned under TAGG for two competitions. The total monetary support for the two Karate players is Rs 5.94 lakh. Both Bhuvneshwari and Alisha had won bronze medals at the 2025 Asian Championship held in Uzbekistan.
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