Sreeshankar Murali’s request to train in Greece for 32 days in order to get ready for the next World Athletics Championship and Asian Games was accepted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports’ Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) at their 95th meeting. Sreeshankar Murali won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Sreeshankar and his coach, Sivasankaran Murali, would both be covered by MYAS’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) for their training in Greece. Among other charges, there are airfare, visa fees, health insurance, local transportation costs, boarding and lodging fees, and out-of-pocket allowances (OPA). The cost of Sree’s training at Texas Tech University under the direction of international coach Keith Herston has also been funded by TOPS.
The MOC authorised Priyanka Goswami and Sandeep Kumar’s requests to train and compete in Melbourne, Australia for 16 days in addition to Sreeshankar’s request. On 15 May, the pair and their trainer Gurmeet Singh are anticipated to go to Australia. Along with athletics, MOC also agreed to Judoka Linthoi Chanambam’s request for foreign training tournaments in Poland and Georgia.
Linthoi, who had previously received support from TOPS to train in Japan, is preparing with her coach Mamuka Kizilashvili for the Gori Cadet European Cup throughout Georgia and Poland. Linthoi will practise and compete in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Poland throughout the course of the 28-day overseas training tournament.