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 just-concluded Games.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) had come out with a document, detailing the financial support provided to the Paris-bound Indian athletes.
It mentions that Ashwini was provided Rs 4,50,000 under TOPS and Rs 1,48,04,080 under Annual calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC), which included the procurement of Game Ready recovery equipment, international competitions and sparring partner in the Tokyo cycle. "I'm absolutely shocked..
I don't mind not getting money but telling the nation that I got money is ridiculous. I haven't received it. Like if you're talking about national camp, then that 1.5 Crore is spent on all the campers," Ashwini told PTI. "I don't have a specific coach.