Financial assistance for PV Sindhu’s coach approved for All England Open

Double Olympic Medallist PV Sindhu’s proposal to financially assist her coach Vidhi Chaudhary & fitness trainer Srikanth Madapalli in accompanying her to the All England Championships, Swiss Open, and Spain Masters was approved by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sport’s (MYAS) Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) on Thursday.

The financial assistance will cover their visa, airfare, travel, lodging, boarding, and food costs among others, and will also provide them with a daily allowance for other expenses.

Vidhi Chaudhary who has been with PV Sindhu for the past two years was also present at the Indian badminton team's recent bronze medal campaign in the Asian Mixed Team championships.

PV Sindhu's next big challenge will be the prestigious All England Championships where she has been drawn in the same quarter as Tai Tzu Ying and starts her campaign against world No 17 Zhang Yi Man from China.

During the meeting, the MOC also approved Indian shooter and World Championships medalist Anish Bhanwala’s proposal to train under Foreign Coach Ralf Schumann in Germany. He would be training in Suhl for a total of 28 days and is scheduled to fly out in the last week of March.

TOPS financial assistance will also cover Anish’s coach, training, and ammunition costs, along with his airfare, visa, travel, lodging, boarding, and food costs among others.

Anish Bhanwala won bronze in the 25m men's rapid-fire pistol event at the ISSF World Cup 2023 in Cairo, Egypt. Anish ended India's 12-year-long wait in the 25m event to win a medal for the country.

In the 25m men's rapid-fire pistol, the Olympic medal and the two previous world cup stage medals were all won by one man, Vijay Kumar.