PT Usha and Saina Nehwal among 27 former athletes contesting IOA Sportspersons of Merit slots
PT Usha and five Olympic medallists are among 27 former athletes contesting eight Sportspersons of Merit (SOM) positions in the Indian Olympic Association’s General Assembly, with a virtual vote scheduled for November 9. Eight successful candidates will join the IOA General Assembly and later be eligible to vote in the body’s Executive Council elections on December 5.
Eighty existing SOMs — 40 men and 40 women — will vote virtually to elect four representatives from each gender category to the General Assembly. The eight elected SOMs will gain voting rights for the December 5 Executive Council election, and two of those eight, one man and one woman, will secure places on the Executive Council and may contest for other posts including the president’s position.
Fifteen candidates are vying for the four men’s SOM positions, with four Olympic medallists among them. Shooter Gagan Narang and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt are listed as 2012 London bronze medallists, Vijender Singh is listed as the Beijing 2008 bronze medallist, and Surinder Singh Shokar is described as having been part of India’s gold-winning team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Other notable male candidates named include World Athletics vice-president Adille Sumariwalla, former India hockey captain Sardar Singh, table tennis player Achanta 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 shot putter Om Prakash Karhana.
Twelve candidates are contesting the four women’s SOM positions, headlined by PT Usha, Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and 2003 World Championships bronze medallist Anju Bobby George. Other women on the list include archers Dola Banerjee and Chekrovolu Swuro, ex-hockey captain Rani Rampal, sprinter Ashwini Nachappa, badminton player Trupti Murgunde, weightlifter Neelam Setti Laxmi, canoe-and-kayak athlete Ragina Kiro, basketball player Anitha Paul Durai and Sunith Singh.
Nomination details on the published list show PT Usha’s candidacy proposed by former table tennis player A Radhika and seconded by former quarter-miler Lijo David Thottan. Sunith Singh’s nomination is recorded without a seconder and its validity will be examined by Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava; scrutiny of nominations is scheduled for November 3 and the final list of candidates will be published on November 7.
The virtual SOM ballot on November 9 will determine which eight former athletes join the IOA General Assembly and which among them will hold voting rights in the December 5 Executive Council election.