Who's in, Who's out? All you need to know about newly published TOPS list

The latest TOPS list saw the core group shrink significantly from 179 to 94 members.

The Indian Sports Ministry has massively cut down the previous 179-member TOPS list to a 94-member contingent now. The newly announced core list, which includes 42 athletes and 52 para-athletes, will be reviewed every six months, ensuring a selection based on performances.

The Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) is the government’s flagship scheme for athlete support. TOPS provides funding for foreign training, international competitions, equipment, and a monthly stipend of ₹50,000 to each athlete in the core group.

The latest TOPS list highlights the ministry’s support towards medal prospects for LA 2028 Games. However, the reason for the massive laying off players from this exclusive pool is due to the country’s poor outing at the Paris Olympic Games.

India managed to claim just six medals, including one silver and five bronze, forcing the sporting authorities to take necessary action. The trimmed list does not feature several big names from Indian sporting fraternity.

On that note, let’s take a look at who made the cut and who didn’t.

Also Read: What is TOPS program? How does it support elite Indian athletes?

Players featuring in TOPS list

In athletics, Neeraj Chopra, Avinash Sable, and Murali Sreeshankar remain in the core group, while Jyothi Yarraji, Shaili Singh and the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams are included in the development group.

The boxing discipline has been reduced from six to two and includes Lovlina Borgohain and Nikhat Zareen, along with wrestlers Aman Sehrawat and Antim Panghal, while Mirabai Chanu remains the lone weightlifter in the core group.

Shooting has the strongest representation with 17 athletes, including Paris 2024 medallists Manu Bhaker, Swapnil Kusale and Sarabjot Singh.

In badminton, Indian legend PV Sindhu is joined by Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy and the swashbuckling men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are retained. Archery stalwart Deepika Kumari retains her place, despite another disappointing outing at the Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, young talents such as squash prodigy Anahat Singh and swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu find themselves in the development squad.

• Archery: Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhagat, Dhiraj Bommadevara
• Athletics: Avinash Sable, Neeraj Chopra, Murali Sreeshankar
• Badminton: PV Sindhu, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty
• Boxing: Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain
• Shooting: Manu Bhaker, Palak, Esha Singh, Sarbjot Singh, Shiva Narwal, Mehuli Ghosh, Ramita, Nancy, Elavanil Valarivan, Rudrankksh Patil, Arjun Babuta, Divyansh Singh Pawar, Sift Kaur Samra, Swapnil Kusale, Akhil Seoran, Aishwary Pratap Singh, Maheshwari Chauhan, Anant Jeet Singh Naruka
• Table Tennis: Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula
• Weightlifting: Mirabai Chanu
• Wrestling: Antim Panghal, Nisha Dahiya, Reetika Hooda, Aman Sehrawat, Chirag and Deepak Punia

Players absent from the TOPS list

The massive eviction of players from the previous TOPS list consists of promising talents who could have been groomed ahead of the marquee LA Games.

The notable exclusion of swimmer Srihari Nataraj made headlines, as the talented 24-year-old qualified for the 50m and 100m backstroke finals at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games alongside teenager Dhinidhi Desinghu, made it to the Paris Games via the Universality quota.

“Any athlete in any sport requires support throughout the year, especially at this level,” a disappointed Srihari said. “We have shown promise at the international stage. It is not uncommon to see phases of ups and downs. Basing the decision on that doesn’t seem great”, said the unhappy swimmer after being dropped.

Also Read: All you need to know about Los Angeles Olympics 2028

Shockingly, the list features no names from tennis, with Indian veteran and US Open winner Rohan Bopanna being snubbed. India’s No #1 singles player Sumit Nagal too doesn’t find a place for himself.

Other sports like equestrian, fencing, golf, sailing too found no representation. In boxing, Nishant Dev, Amit Panghal, Preeti Pawar, and Jaismine Lamboria have been left out from the core group. Dev’s exclusion is bewildering after the boxer made the quarterfinals in Paris and lost his bout after a controversial decision.

Notable athletes excluded from the core group include table tennis veteran Sharath Kamal, Asian Games 100m hurdles silver medallist Jyothi Yarraji, long jumper Jeswin Aldrin, and Asian Games shot put gold medallist Tajinderpal Singh Toor.

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