Govt approves foreign training, competition trips of four Olympic sailors

New Delhi (IANS) The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has approved the proposal towards the foreign training & competitions of four Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) sailors from May till September 2023.

The four Olympic sailors - Nethra Kumanan, Vishnu Saravanan, Varun Thakkar, and KC Ganapathy, would be training and competing at various completions across the globe before heading to Hangzhou, China for the upcoming Asian Games.

While Nethra, will be training in Gran Canaria, Spain till September, she will also head to Keil, Germany (Kiel Week), followed by Marseille, France (Olympic Test Event) and Scheveningen, Netherlands (World Sailing Championship) for various competitions.

Vishnu on the other hand will be training and competing at various locations (Valencia, Milan, Dublin, The Hague, Croatia and Mumbai) in the coming months.

He is set to compete in the EurILCA Europa Cup, ILCA Open Asian Championship, Marseille Olympic Test Event, and World Championship (Olympic qualifiers) before heading to China for the Asian Games.

The team of Varun and Ganapathy will be training and competing in Keil, Germany (Kiel Week), France (Olympics Test Event), The Hague (World Championship), and China.

"The total estimated expenditure for all four sailors is estimated to be Rs.1.50cr approximately including expenses for foreign coaches (3), and equipment for Nethra and Varun- Ganapathy," the statement read.