NEW DELHI: Dope-tainted wrestler Reetika Hooda has been dropped from the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) core group, while several leading compound archers including Parneet Kaur and Abhishek Verma — have been promoted, and decathlete Tejaswin Shankar has been added to the developmental list in the updated athlete directory released under the Sports Ministry’s flagship programme.
The TOPS list, which was drastically pruned from 179 to 94 athletes last year following the completion of the Paris 2024 Olympic cycle, has now been revised to reflect performances over the past season. The number of athletes in the core group has marginally increased to 118, comprising 57 able-bodied athletes and 61 para-athletes.
Hooda, an Asian Championships medallist and a Paris Olympian, failed a dope test during a selection trial in July last year. She had earlier been named in the TOPS core group announced in February 2024. “She has been dropped now,” a Sports Authority of India (SAI) source confirmed when asked about her status.
However, para-sprinter Simran — a World Para Athletics Championships gold-medallist and Paris Paralympics 200m bronze-winner — has been retained in the core group despite her guide Umar Saifi failing a dope test in October. “We won’t take a knee-jerk decision in her case. She is there and her case will come up in the next Mission Olympic Cell meeting,” the source added.
A major feature of the revised list is the upgrade extended to compound archers, who are seen as strong medal contenders for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics following the discipline’s inclusion in the Games programme. Eight leading compound archers — Parneet Kaur, Abhishek Verma, Jyoti Surekha Vennam, Aditi Gopichand Swami, Ojas Pravin Deotale, Priyansh, Prathmesh Samadhan Jawkar and Rishab Yadav — have been inducted into the core group, alongside recurve stars Deepika Kumari, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat.
In athletics, Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra remains in the core group and is now joined by fellow javelin thrower Sachin Yadav, who finished fourth at last year’s World Championships as Chopra, hampered by fitness concerns, ended eighth.
Other track and field names in the list include steeplechaser Avinash Sable, long jumper M Sreeshankar and new entrant Sarvesh Kushare, the Asian Championships silver-medallist high jumper who also finished sixth at the Worlds. Three-time para-world championships medallist Ekta Bhyan has also been placed in the core group. Tennis, golf and swimming continue to remain unrepresented.
The developmental group features rising sprinter Animesh Kujur — national record-holder in both 100m and 200m — along with decathlete Tejaswin Shankar, an Asian Championships silver-medallist. The men’s 4x400m relay squad has also been added, joining their women’s counterparts, while table tennis players Manush Shah, Manav Thakkar and Diya Chitale have been included.
Separately, the Target Asian Games Group (TAGG), aimed at supporting athletes for this year’s Asian Games in Japan, features 48 names, including golfers Shubhankar Sharma and Diksha Dagar, tennis players Sumit Nagal, Yuki Bhambri and fast-rising Maya Rajeswaran, as well as equestrians Fouaad Mirza and Anush Agarwalla, fencer Bhavani Devi and gymnast Pranati Nayak.