London Games: Indian athletes get Rs 6.85 crore to train

The sports ministry on Tuesday said that it has allocated Rs 6.85 crore from National Sports Development Fund to 22 sportspersons under Operation Excellence 2012 for the London Olympics.

The biggest beneficiary is double trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi, who has been granted Rs.97.37 lakh. Among other shooters, former world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu hs received Rs.91.95 lakh while Mansher Singh has been allocated Rs.47.25 lakh.

India's top ranked tennis player Somdev Devvarman has received Rs.39.60 lakh while Sania Mirza, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Yuki Bhambri, Sanam Singh and 1992 Atlanta Olympics bronze medallist Leander Paes have received Rs.36.96 lakh each.

The assistance sanctioned is towards extensive training abroad, engagement of personal coaches both foreign and Indian, competitions and exposure abroad, scientific back-up in terms of sports psychologists, physiotherapists and masseurs.

List of sportspersons:

Ronjan Sodhi (shooting): Rs.97.37 lakh

Manavjit Singh Sandhu (shooting): Rs.91.95 lakh

Mansher Singh (shooting): Rs.47.25 lakh

Krishna Poonia (discus): Rs.24.20 lakh

Om Prakash Karhana (shot put): Rs.48.10 lakh

Vikas Gowda (discus): Rs.24.51 lakh

Somdev Devvarman (tennis): Rs.39.60 lakh

Sania Mirza (tennis): Rs.36.96 lakh

Mahesh Bhupathi (tennis): Rs.36.96 lakh

Rohan Bopanna (tennis): Rs.36.96 lakh

Yuki Bhambri (tennis): Rs.36.96 lakh

Sanam Singh (tennis): Rs.36.96 lakh

Leander Paes (tennis): Rs.36.96 lakh

Ashish Kumar, Rakesh Patra, Alok Ranajan, Iqrar Hasan (gymnasts-men): Rs.56.83 lakh

Dipa Karmarkar, B Aruna, Rucha Divekar, Roma Jogalekar, Meenakshi (gymnasts-women): Rs.33.08 lakh