‘Received Rs 1.5 Cr Each?’ Ashwini Ponnappa Refutes Olympic Funding Report

Indian shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa has refuted the claims by media reports that she received funding of 1.50 Crore rupees as a part of Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) funding.

Hyderabad: After Indian badminton players’ poor performance at the Paris Olympics, they have been constantly under criticism for failing to win any medal in spite of receiving support from the government. Even, Prakash Padukone, an Indian badminton legend slammed the Indian shuttlers for their poor outings.

Reflecting on India’s poor badminton outing in the Paris Games, a report in PTI highlighted the funding received by the Indian athletes. However, Indian badminton star Ashwini Ponappa has called the report a lie.

A report in PTI revealed that HS Prannoy received 1.8 Crore rupees for training. However, he lost in the pre-quarterfinals exiting early from the tournament. Also, the report stated that the pair Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa had received 1.5 Crore each.

Ashwini took to X while tagging the PTI report and stated that she didn’t receive any money at all.

"How can an article be written without getting facts right? How can this lie be written? Received 1.5 CR each? From whom? For what? I haven't received this money. I was not even part of any organization or TOPS for funding," wrote Ponnappa.

"I have funded myself for tournaments until Nov last year, after which I was sent with the Indian team for tournaments as I met the selection criteria to make the team."

"I was included as part of the TOPS scheme only after qualifying for the Paris 2024 Games till the Olympic Games, that’s it."

Again, how can this be written without getting the facts checked?

This is not the first time when Ashwini has reacted to the criticism towards the Indian badminton players. Earlier, she had reacted to Prakash Padukone’s comments regarding the Indian shuttlers’ performance saying coaches should also take blame for an athlete’s defeat.