PT Usha, Saina Nehwal, Gagan Narang among sports greats in IOA election fray

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha and five Olympic medalists are among the 27 former athletes who are in the running for the eight posts of Athletes of Merit (SOM) in the National Olympic Body’s General Assembly. The election on November 9 is expected to play an important role in shaping the next IOA executive board with several prominent sports figures in contention.

A total of 80 existing SOMs, comprising 40 men and 40 women, will vote virtually to elect four representatives from each category. Eight successful candidates will become members of the IOA General Assembly and receive voting rights in the IOA December 5 elections for the new executive board of this body.

The list features some of India’s most famous sporting names, including Olympic medalists Gagan Narang, Yogeshwar Dutt, Vijender Singh, Surinder Singh Shokar and Saina Nehwal. Among the candidates are the vice-president of world athletics Adille Sumariwalla, hockey great Sardar Singh or former table tennis star Achanta Sharath Kamal.

The SOM election has added significance as the successful candidates will have a say in the upcoming IOA leadership polls. Two of the eight elected members, one male and one female, will eventually secure seats on the executive board and could run for other positions, including the presidency.

OLYMPIC MEDALISTS IN THE MEN’S COMPETITION

Fifteen candidates are vying for the four men’s SOM positions, including four Olympic medalists. Shooter Gagan Narang and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt won bronze medals at the 2012 London Olympics, boxer Vijender Singh won bronze at Beijing 2008. Hockey player Surinder Singh Shokar was part of the Indian team that won gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Other notable candidates include Sumariwalla, Sardar Singh, Sharath Kamal, shooters Mansher Singh, Morad Ali Khan and Ronjan Sodhi, former table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta, weightlifter Sathish Kumar Sivalingam, badminton players B Sai Praneeth and B Sumeeth Reddy and former bowler Karhan Om.

USHA, SAINA LEAD IN FEMALE AREA

Usha, Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal and 2003 World Championship bronze medalist Anju Bobby George headline the 12 candidates vying for the four women’s positions.

The list also includes former archers Dola Banerjee and Chekrovolu Swuro, ex-hockey captain Rani Rampal, sprinter Ashwini Nachappa, badminton player Trupti Murgunde, weightlifter Neelam Setti Laxmi, canoeist and kayaker Ragina Kiro, basketball player Anitha Paul Durai and Sunith Singh.

Usha’s nomination was proposed by former table tennis player A Radhika and seconded by former quarter-miler Lijo David Thottan. Sunith Singh’s nomination, meanwhile, has been filed without an aide, leaving its validity subject to the scrutiny of Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava.

Nomination review is scheduled for November 3, with the final list of candidates to be released on November 7, two days before the virtual election.

– The end