Indian doubles badminton specialist Ashwini Ponnappa on Tuesday said she received little or no personal financial support from the Sports Ministry to prepare for the Paris Olympics and even her request for a coach was rejected. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has come out with a document detailing the financial assistance provided to Indian athletes who participated in the Paris Olympics.
According to this document, Ashwini was given Rs 4,50,000 under TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Program) and Rs 1,48,04,080 under the Annual Calendar of Practice and Competition (ACTC). Ashwini told PTI, “I am really very surprised. I have no objection to not getting money but telling the country that I took money is ridiculous. I did not get money. If you are talking about the national camp, then Rs 1.5 crore was spent on all the players who participated in it. ”
She said, “I did not even have a coach of my choice. As far as my personal trainer is concerned, I bore the expenses myself. I did not take money from anyone. I continued to play at my own expense till November 2023. I was included in the tops only when we qualified for the Olympics.” India’s top doubles player, 34-year-old Ashwini won gold, silver and bronze medals respectively in the Commonwealth Games 2010, 2014 and 2018. She participated in the London and Rio Olympics in pairing with Jwala Gutta.
Giving details of the expenditure of Rs 1.48 crore, a SAI source said, “This amount was spent on travel, accommodation, food, competition fees etc. in all the competitions in which they participated before the Olympics. This amount was given to the Badminton Association of India under ACTC.” Ashwini, who was paired with N Sikki Reddy till August 2022, paired up with Tanisha Crasto in December the same year. The pair started playing in international tournaments from January 2023. On the basis of good performance in some tournaments, the pair managed to qualify for the Olympics.
Ashwini said, “The ministry has always supported me. I have been part of the team for years and I am grateful for the support I have received.” She said, “Last year I did not get any support and that is fine. You cannot say that I have been given Rs 1.5 crore. If this amount is for more than four years then it is still fine because then I was playing in pair with Sikki and was part of TOPS.”
The pair of Ashwini and Tanisha could not win a single match in the Paris Olympics and were eliminated from the group stage. Ashwini said, “We did not perform well and I take responsibility for it but you cannot say that I am getting this amount when I did not get this amount.
