New Delhi: The Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) on Wednesday approved financial aid of Rs 33.18 lakh for the development of archers from the Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS).

The beneficiaries include Parth Salunkhe, Aditya Choudhary, Dipti Kumari, Simranjeet Kaur, Neeraj Chauhan, Ridhi, Madhu Vedwan, Sudhanshu Bisht, Divyansh Kumar and Tisha Punia.

Each archer will receive approximately Rs 3.5 lakh to purchase equipment.

According to a statement from the SAI, they have been helped to add second equipment (bow set) for international competitions, including the upcoming World Cups and Asian Games.

Speaking of the financial assistance in obtaining the second bow, archer Ridhi, who has been selected to represent India at the upcoming World Cups, said: “The second bow set will be very important to us as World Archery recently changed their rules and now do not give us extra time to set up in the event of equipment failure during the event.

“So having second gear as a backup will be crucial for all of us so as not to lose time or our performance.”

Simranjeet added: “Having a second bow set will also help us to unwind mentally during practice and the event as we will have an immediate backup in case of equipment failure.

“We will also not lose our practice or event time in the event of equipment failure and will be able to practice with the second arc and get used to it quickly.”

The Archery Association of India (AAI) had previously announced the national teams for the next four stages of the Archery World Cup in March this year.

Six TOPS development archers including Parth, Aditya, Dipti, Simranjeet, Neeraj and Ridhi have been selected for these upcoming events.

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