Chief of the Army Staff, Gen S Padmanabhan visited the Army Sports Institute (ASI) at Pune. During his visit, the COAS reviewed the progress of the institute. It was inaugurated in July this year.

The COAS met promising sportsmen from the fields of boxing, athletics, shooting, archery, weightlifting, wrestling, equestrian and sailing including many national and international champions.

Speaking to the sportsmen, the COAS said that in the previous Olympics, India with 100 crore population got only one bronze medal. Gen Padmanabhan said, "If we can’t win in sports, we can’t win wars. So we have to win and will win with our disciplined coaching and by extending proper facilities to sportsmen. With this aim Rs 65 crore has been alloted for the Army Sports Institute.’’ Whatever is required for the institute shall be provided, he added.

The GOC-in-C, Southern Command, Lt Gen N C Vij and Lt Gen R K Sawhaney along with a number of senior Army officers were present on the occasion.

The ASI is spread over 60 acres and is equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities to train 150-300 sportsmen in boxing, selected events in atheletics, archery, weightlifting and diving. The institute aims at providing the best sportsmen for the nation to win at Olympics, Asian Games and other international events. Employment of reputed foreign coaches has also been planned, besides sending the sportsmen abroad for intensive training.