Govt approves foreign training for Olympian sailors ahead of Asian Games

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Olympian sailors — Nethra Kumanan, Vishnu Saravanan, Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy — will train and participate in competitions at various places abroad till September in preparation for the Hangzhou Asian Games later this year.

This was decided after the Sports Ministry approved the proposal of the four Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) sailors towards foreign training and competitions from May to September.

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 Hanzhou, China for the Asian Games to be held from September 23 till October 8.

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 1.50 crore approximately, including expenses for foreign coaches (3), and equipment for Nethra and Varun and Ganapathy, the ministry said in a statement.