Ashwini Ponnappa smashes ’em!

Indian doubles badminton specialist Ashwini Ponnappa on Tuesday said she received little to no individual financial assistance from the sports ministry in the build up to Paris Olympics and even her request for a coach was turned down ahead of the justconcluded GamesThe Sports Authority of India SAI had come out with a document detailing the financial support provided to the Parisbound Indian athletesIt mentions that Ashwini was provided Rs 450000 under TOPS and Rs 14804080 under Annual calender for Training and Competition ACTC which included the procurement of Game Ready recovery equipment international competitions and sparring partner in Tokyo cyclelsquoIrsquom absolutely shockedrsquoldquoIrsquom absolutely shockedI donrsquot mind not getting money but telling the nation that I got money is ridiculous I havenrsquot received it Like if yoursquore talking about national camp then that R15 crore is spent on all the campersrdquo Ashwini told PTIAlso ReadHe Bing Jiao announces retirementldquoI donrsquot have a specific coach As for my personalised trainer Irsquom paying for him myself Irsquom not taking money from anyone Irsquove played on my own until November 2023 I was included as part of TOPS only after we qualifiedrdquo Ashwini 34 has been one of the top Indian doubles player having won a gold a silver and a bronze in the Commonwealth Games 2010 2014 and 2018 respectivelyShe has also competed in the London and Rio Olympics with Jwala Gutta Detailing the R148 crore spending a SAI source said ldquoThe R148 crore has been spent on her on travel stay food competition fee DA in all the competitions that she participated in as part of the Indian team in the Paris cycle This money is given to BAI as part of ACTCrdquoAshwini who had paired with N Sikki Reddy till August 2022 joined hands with Tanisha Crasto in December that year and started playing in international tournaments from January 2023 A series of good performances helped them seal their Paris berth after which the duo were included in the TOPS scheme in May this yearGrateful to ministryldquoThe ministry has always supported me Irsquove been part of the team for years and Irsquom grateful for the support Irsquove receivedrdquo Ashwini said ldquoThe last year I havenrsquot been supported and itrsquos ok But you canrsquot say Irsquove been given R15 crore if itrsquos over four years fair enough As I was TOPS when I was partnering SikkirdquoPlaying her third Olympics Ashwini was left in tears after she and her partner Tanisha couldnrsquot win a single match to make an unceremonious exit from the group stage ldquoI havenrsquot played well irrespective of the coach not being there I take responsibility for thatrdquo she saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever