TJ, Animesh Kujur enter TOPS developmental group; Pranati named for TAGG
IMAGE: India’s new sprint sensation- Animesh Kujur. Photograph: Animesh Kujur/Instagram
Asian Championships silver-winning decathlete Tejaswin Shankar, fast-rising sprinter Animesh Kujur and the women’s 4x100m relay team were included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme’s developmental group, while gymnast Pranati Nayak was added to the Target Asian Games Group in the latest round of evaluation by the Sports Ministry.
The 26-year-old Tejaswin, who is mostly based in the USA, became the first Indian to win two decathlon medals in the Asian Championships by upgrading his bronze from the previous edition to a silver this time in Gumi, South Korea last month.
The 22-year-old Kujur, on the other hand, claimed a bronze medal in the men’s 200m event with a national record time of 20.32 seconds. This was his first medal at an international event.
The athletes included in the TOPS developmental group are entitled to a monthly allowance of Rs 25,000 and are considered long-term medal prospects.
Also making the developmental list was the quartet of 4x100m quartet of Abinaya Rajarajan, Sneha Shanuvalli, Nithya Gandhe and Srabani Nanda. They won a silver medal in the event at the Asian meet.
High jumper Pooja (gold, 1.89m PB), Servin Sebastian (race walking), Vithya Ramaraj (hurdles), Sachin Yadav (javelin throw), Yoonus Shah (middle-distance) were the other good performers from the Asian event to make the group after a recent meeting of the ministry’s Mission Olympic Cell (MOC).
Javelin superstar Neeraj Chopra, steeplechaser Avinash Sable and long jumper M Sreeshankar are the only track and field names in the core group that was slashed to 94 from 179 at the beginning of the year following the end of an Olympic cycle.
The pruned core list features only 42 able-bodied athletes.
Pranati added to TAGG
Gymnasts Pranati Nayak and Protishtha Samanta (vault) have been added to the Target Asian Games Group (TAGG). Nayak won a bronze medal in the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jecheon, South Korea earlier this month.
This was her third bronze at the continental event after third-place finishes in Ulaanbaatar (2019) and Doha (2022).
TOPS CEO NS Johal, Olympic medallist Gagan Narang, Pullela Gopichand (Vice-president, Badminton Association of India), Viren Rasquinha (Olympic Gold Quest), Aparna Popat, Dronacharya awardee para coach Dr. Satyapal Singh, and Arjuna awardee Prashanti Singh are among the members of the MOC.
Equipment support for archers
Rs 11.90 lakh have been approved for archers Parneet Kaur, Priyansh and Jyothi Surekha Vennam for purchase of equipment as part of their preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. All three of them are part of the TOPS core group.
SAI official awarded UK Chevening Scholarship
Bengaluru SAI centre’s Deputy Director Sathishkumar S has been awarded the prestigious Chevening Scholarship by the UK Government for the 2025–26 academic year. He will pursue a Master’s degree in Sports Management, Politics, and International Development at the Loughborough University.
Sathiskumar joined SAI in 2017 and has been involved in over 10 editions of the Khelo India Games. He was deputed as an official observer for India at the Paris Olympics and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
