SAI approves financial assistance for Asian Games, World Cup-bound TOPS archers

New Delhi, April 13 (IANS) The Sports Authority of India's (SAI) Mission Olympics Cell (MOC) in their recent meeting approved financial assistance of Rs 33.18 lakh (approximately Rs.3.5 lakh per archer) for Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS) development archers Parth Salunkhe, Aditya Choudhary, Dipti Kumari, Simranjeet Kaur, Neeraj Chauhan, Ridhi, Madhu Vedwan, Sudhanshu Bisht, Divyansh Kumar and Tisha Punia to add second equipment (bow set) for international competitions including upcoming World Cups and Asian Games.

Talking about the financial help in getting the second bow, Archer Ridhi and Neeraj Chauhan who have been selected to represent India at the upcoming World Cups said, "The second bow set will be really important for us as World Archery recently changed their rules and will now not give us any additional time for setting up in case of an equipment malfunction during the event, thus having a second equipment as a backup will be crucial for all of us so as to not lose out on time or our performance."

Archer Simranjeet Kaur also went on to add, "Having a second bow set will also help us be mentally at peace during practice and event as we will have an immediate backup with us in case of any equipment malfunction. We will also not lose out on our practice or event time in case of any equipment failure and will be able to practice with the second bow and get adjusted to it quickly."

The Archery Association of India (AAI) had announced the Indian national teams for the upcoming four stages of Archery World Cups in March this year, with 6 TOPS Development Archers being selected for either one or more of the upcoming international events.