Leaders Online Desk: Indian badminton players Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu will train in France and Germany respectively as part of Olympic preparations. It has been approved by the Ministry of Sports. Sen had sought financial assistance for a 12-day training session in Marseille, France. He will train with his coaches and support staff at The Halle des Sports Permains from July 8 to 21. So, Sindhu will be training at the Hermann-Neuberger Sports School in Saarbrucken, Germany. She will train with her coach and support staff for a month before flying to Paris.
“Under Sports Ministry's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), his (Target-Sindhu) air fare, boarding/accommodation expenses, local transport charges, visa charges will be reimbursed,” the ministry said in a statement.
During the meeting, the sports ministry gave permission for the purchase of equipment for table tennis player Sreeja Akula and archer Tisha Punia. Approved the request for travel assistance of golfer Aditi Ashok and swimmer Aryan Nehra for various competitions.
The sports ministry also approved inclusion of table tennis player Harmeet Desai and women's 4×400 relay team in the TOPS core group and promotion of wrestlers Nisha (68 kg) and Ritika (76 kg) to the core group. The ministry roped in up-and-coming golfer Karthik Singh into Topps development, focusing on the 2028 and 2032 Olympics in Los Angeles and Brisbane respectively.
