Ministry okays additional financial aid for Bajrang Punia
The Hindu
Sunil to receive ₹10.85 lakh towards special training in Romania, Hungary
The Union Sports Ministry’s Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) has granted additional financial assistance to the tune of ₹1.76 lakh to wrestler Bajrang Punia to support his training in Moscow.
Bajrang, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, was earlier approved an amount of ₹7.53 lakh for a 26-day training camp ahead of a busy season. He is now being supported with an additional ₹1.76 lakh for his camp that started on December 27.
Jitender and Anand Kumar accompanied Bajrang as sparring partner and physiotherapist respectively.
Unlike most of the Olympic-bound athletes, who opt to train abroad before the big event, boxer Amit Panghal prefers training in home conditions prior to Paris 2024. A former World championships silver medallist and a World No. 1, Panghal won the 51kg quota place in the only chance he got. He wants to follow his own plans to script success in Paris.
The other men’s semifinal Friday is Norway’s Casper Ruud, twice the runner-up in Paris — to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and to Novak Djokovic in 2023 — against Germany’s Alexander Zverev, a finalist at the 2020 U.S. Open, an Olympic gold medalist and into the final four at Roland Garros for the fourth consecutive year.