Mumbai, Dec. 12 (PTI): Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles Business, principal sponsors of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Wednesday launched a programme to prepare wrestlers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 'Tata Motors Elite Wrestlers Development Programme was launched in the presence of WFI chief Brijbhushan Sharan Singh and Girish Wagh, President, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, and star grapplers and Olympic medallists Sushil Kumar, Sakshi Malik and others.
The programme is "to promote, encourage and develop wrestlers and prepare them for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics", it was announced at a media conference here.
The programme will fund the long-awaited hiring of two foreign coaches one each for men and women elite wrestlers to work with the elite Indian grapplers for the Asian Championships next year in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and the World Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The Astana event will also serve as an Olympic qualifier, it was announced.
The foreign coaches will join the programme as early as next month and will help the elite wrestlers to prepare for the Asian Championships.
The championships will also serve as the cornerstone for the 2020 Olympics preparations and identify the medal hopefuls.
The key job of the top-level foreign experts will be to accompany the wrestlers on exposure trips abroad, to ensure world-class preparatory competitions for each of the elite talent as they prepare for the targeted championships from January 2019 onwards, it was announced.
They will be assisted by a team of support staff from experienced physiotherapist to biomechanics, mental trainer to nutritionist.
Some of the other features of the programme are funding for overseas exposure trips (50 days and beyond), insurance protection against injuries and supporting for nutrition and dietary needs.
Commenting on the partnership, Singh said, "These facilities will help wrestlers focus fully on themselves and prepare for the toughest tests before winning medals for the country."
Meanwhile, at the launch event the grapplers were given their central contracts.
