Rohan Bopanna’s disappointment in losing the French Open men doubles quarterfinals stood largely negated by the joy of receiving the “Sports Icon of Year” award at the conclusion of the Sports Conclave here on Thursday.
The doubles specialist and mixed doubles winner at Roland Garros last year, flew down from Paris to be part of an elite gathering of around 60 sportspersons to receive the coveted award from Indian Oil, his employers.
“I look at the positives. Had I won (in the company of his French partner E. Roger-Vasselin, I would not have been able to attend this gathering and receive the award in person,” said the 38-year old.
Bopanna was cheered by, among others, table tennis stars Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra, badminton coach P. Gopi Chand, shuttlers P. Kashyap, N. Sikki Reddy, a number of Grandmasters, players from hockey, carrom, cue sports and others.
The prominent absentees were cricketers Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara.
Speaking on the occasion, Sharath and Gopi took turns to acknowledge the role of IOC in their careers and the opportunity provided through the conclave to interact with fellow champions.
Gopi urged those in authority to make full use of the expertise and experience of ex-sportspersons on the rolls of Indian Oil as coaches. The 2001 All England champion recalled how the company stood by him after he seriously injured his knee within a year of joining (in 1994).
Earlier, the petroleum major announced plans to enhance financial assistance to budding champions and recruit more sportspersons in six newly identified disciplines, in addition to the 10 existing ones.
Making the announcement, IOC’s Director (HR) Ranjan K. Mohapatra said volleyball, basketball, shooting, archery, wrestling, kabaddi and boxing had been identified as ‘thrust games’. “We have plans to increase the number of players on scholarship from 150, at present, to about 200 or 250. The stipend, which is currently at ₹9,000 per month will be increased to ₹15,000 per month. The one-time financial assistance, which is about ₹48,000 at present, could be raised to ₹60,000.