Government approves overseas training for Olympian sailors ahead of Asian Games
Olympic-bound rowers like Netra Kumanan, Vishnu Saravanan, Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy will train and compete at various overseas locations till September to prepare for the Hangzhou Asian Games later this year. The decision was taken after the Sports Ministry approved the proposal of four athletes included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) to train and compete abroad from May to September. Netra will meanwhile undergo training at Gran Canaria, Spain till September.
She will also compete in various competitions such as Kiel, Germany (Kiel Week), Marseille, France (Olympic Test Event) and Scheveningen, Netherlands (World Sailing Championships). During this time Vishnu will train and compete in various locations (Valencia, Milan, Dublin, The Hague, Croatia and Mumbai). He will compete in the EurILCA Europa Cup, ILCA Open Asian Championships, Marseille Olympic Test Event and World Championships (Olympic qualifiers) before heading to Hangzhou for the Asian Games from September 23 to October 8.
Varun and Ganapathy’s team will train and compete in Kiel, Germany (Kiel Week), France (Olympic Test Event), The Hague (World Championships) and China. The total estimated expenditure for all the four sailors would be around Rs 1.5 crore, the ministry said in a statement. This includes foreign coaches (three) besides equipment for Netra and Varun and Ganpati.
