Om Prakash Karhana named India's chef-de-mission for Youth Olympics

New Delhi, Oct 30 (PTI) Asian Championships gold-winning former shot-putter Om Prakash Karhana has been named chef-de-mission of the 35-member Indian contingent, including 17 athletes, for the Youth Olympic Games beginning on Saturday in Dakar, Senegal.

     The 39-year-old Karhana, who is an outgoing member of the Indian Olympic Association's athletes commission, had earlier served as the Safeguarding Officer of the Indian contingent at last year's Asian Youth Games.

     The Sports Ministry has approved a support staff of 12 coaches, four physios, and one doctor for the 17 athletes (six male and 11 female), who will represent India in 11 disciplines during the Games that will run till November 13.

     Overall, around 2,700 athletes from 207 countries are expected to participate across 25 disciplines in the Games for the age group of 15 to 18.

     For India, this is the smallest contingent of athletes to travel for the Games that began in 2010. India's best performance came in the previous edition that was held in 2018 when the country won 13 medals, including three gold, nine silver and one bronze.

     Young table tennis player Syndrela Das and swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu are among the prominent names in the Indian team.

     The 17-year-old Syndrela recently participated in the Asian Games in Japan, where she competed in the women's team and doubles events. The Indian women's team reached the quarter-finals, while Syndrela and Sreeja Akula made it to the round of 16 in doubles.

     Dhinidhi, meanwhile, has emerged as one of India's most promising young swimmers.

     She won gold in the 200m freestyle at the 2026 Asian Age Group Championships in Bangkok, where she also set a national record. She had also competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

     Dhinidhi and male swimmer Tirhank Pegu will be guided by Olympian Sandeep Sejwal, who is part of the coaching contingent.

     India's athlete contingent:

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     Avinash Shourya (Women's 100m Hurdles), Antra (Women's beach wrestling 65kg), Anuj(Men's beach wrestling 70kg), Khushbu Rajakbhai (Women's judo 63kg), Syndrela Das (Women's table tennis singles), Dhinidhi Desinghu (Women's 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 200m IM), Gunjan (Women's boxing 48kg), Gatha Khadke (Women's archery individual), Deepanshu Khokhar (Men's beach wrestling 80kg), Lairenlakpama Ambekar (Men's boxing 50kg), Sresht Raju (Men's equestrian jumping individual), Priyanshi Patil (Women's windsurfing), Tanvi Patri (Women's badminton singles), Tirhank Pegu (Men's 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly), Rajkumari Lanchenbi Chanu (Women's Changquan combined), Ruparelia Dev (Men's badminton singles), Taniya (Women's Beach wrestling 75kg).

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)