Three-time Olympian Deepika Kumari has been re-inducted into the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Core group ahead of the Paris Olympics, according to a sports ministry announcement

The TOPS is the sports ministry’s flagship programme dedicated to identifying potential Olympic and Paralympic medal winners and helping their training by providing financial and infrastructural aid.

With less than three months to go before the start of the Olympics, Deepika displayed great form by winning a silver medal at the Archery World Cup stage in Shanghai last week.

It was Deepika’s second successive medal at the international level since returning from a 14-month maternity break. Deepika had won the gold medal at the 2024 Asia Cup in February.

Deepika and her husband Atanu Das, an Asian Games silver medallist, were dropped from the TOPS list after the national archery ranking tournament in January 2022.

Deepika is yet to obtain a quota in archery for the Paris Olympics

Indian archers will have their final chance t1o obtain a quota for the Paris Games at Stage 3 of the Archery World Cup, set to be held in Antalya, Turkiye in June.

Dhiraj Bommadevara, through his silver at the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament last year, has secured India’s only quota in archery so far.

Besides Deepika’s re-induction, the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) of the sports ministry also inducted squash players Anahat Singh, Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar in the TOPS scheme. Squash figures in the programme for the LA 2028 Olympics.

Recurve1 archer Mrinal Chauhan has been added to the TOPS while Olympian Pravin Jadhav has been moved to the Core group from the Development group. Para-powerlifter Ashok has also been inducted into the Core group.

Commonwealth Games silver medallist and race-walker Priyanka Goswami has also received support from the MOC for foreign training camps as she prepares for the Paris Olympics.

Shubhankar Sharma, ranked 46th in the men’s Olympic Golf Ranking (OGR), has also been moved from the TOPS Development Group to the Core Group. Asian Games silver medallist Gaganjeet Bhullar has been directly inducted into the TOPS Core group on the basis of his recent form. He is currently ranked 52nd in the OGR.