PV Sindhu, Harmanpreet Singh get top posts in Sports Commission

PV Sindhu and Harmanpreet Singh (Image credit: Agencies) NEW DELHI: Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu has been elected as the chairman of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Athletes’ Commission, with Indian men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh as the vice-chairman, in an interesting development ahead of the December 5 National Olympic Committee elections.However, neither will exercise voting rights in IOA polls, breaking the commission’s convention of two top officials representing athletes at the general meeting. Instead, Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Mirabai Chanu and leading swimmer Sajan Prakash secured voting positions for both representatives at the AGM.Both will have voting rights in the Dec. 5 election and could potentially run in the polls themselves.The SOM plant sees selectionsAkeen competition is expected for eight Athletes of Exceptional Merit (SOM) positions. Of the 27 nominations received, 23 were declared valid by Returning Officer (RO) Sanjay Kumar Srivastava.There were several withdrawals including Sardar Singh, Sumeeth Reddy, Om Prakash Karhana and Sunith Singh. The list includes prominent names including IOA president PT Usha, Gagan Narang, Yogeshwar Dutt, Adille Sumariwalla and Saina Nehwal.It is also learned that former athletics star Ashwini Nachappa has also withdrawn from the SOM election fray, which is seen as another interesting development.Usha vs Sumariwalla for IOA top post?Athletics has the strongest representation with four candidates — Sumariwalla, Anju and Usha — in the SOM elections. A possible audition of Usha-Sumariwalla for the post of IOA president is also being discussed.