Aditi, Anirban, Shubhankar, Tvesa, Diksha included in TOPS list

By Rahul Banerji

Last August, Aditi Ashok came within a whisker of a golf medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The silver-bronze playoff eliminated her early but the 23-year-old had made a point.

Someone, somewhere was watching the Bangalore golfer’s heroics that saw her finish just two shots behind eventual gold medallist Nelly Korda of the US.

The monumental effort which saw Aditi finish in fourth place bore fruit with her and four other golfers – Anirban Lahiri, Shubhankar Sharma, Diksha Dagar, and Tvesa Malik – added to the list of those funded by the government.

In a statement, the youth affairs and sports ministry said on Monday 10 athletes in all had been included by the Sports’ Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) to the list of those getting support under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme.

They include rider Fouaad Mirza, Lahiri, Aditi and Diksha, and Alpine skiier Mohammed Arif Khan who are among the Core Group.

Shubhankar and Tvesa join judokas Yash Ghangas, Unnati Sharma, and Linthoi Chanambam in the Development group, taking the number of athletes under TOPS to 301, including 107 in the Core group.

Customised support

“The ministry primarily supports elite athletes under the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition of each National Sports Federation,” the statement said.

“TOPS provides customised support to athletes in areas not covered under the ACTC and addresses unanticipated needs of the athletes as they prepare to excel in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Aditi wrested the nation’s attention in Tokyo 2020 after being in medal reckoning throughout the competition.

“The 21-year-old left-hander Diksha Dagar, who is from Jhajjar in Haryana and is a silver medallist in the 2017 Summer Deaflympics, finished 50th in the Olympic Games last year,” the statement added.

While Aditi, then ranked 200^th just missed the podium at Tokyo, she has retained her LPGA card and Tvesa Malik has established herself on the Ladies European Tour.

Anirban Lahiri is India’s only full-time representative on the flagship PGA Tour and Shubhankar Sharma plies his trade on the European Tour. Later this week, he will be in action at the Singapore International.

Also read: Chopra makes it a golden day but Aditi was no less a winner