London, Nov 5 (IANS): In a bid to urge the Indian diaspora to show their support to players ahead of World Championship 2019 and Olympics 2020, ace Indian boxer Manoj Kumar has launched Indian Sports Fan drive here.
On the occasion of celebrating the rich culture of Haryana with the Haryanvis in London on November 1, at the Harlington Sports Centre, the boxer started the fan campaign with an aim to garner maximum support for the sport and Tokyo 2020.
On this unique occasion, Manoj said: "I am extremely gratified to launch the fan campaign from the grounds of London where we are already celebrating cultural diversity pumped up with sporting spirits."
"The initiative is taken to strengthen the fan base of all Indian Sports Fan spread across the world," he added.
The 31-year-old boxer, who bagged a gold medal in the light welterweight division at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, said that not only boxers, but all athletes need maximum support and blessings from their fans to get maximum number of medals from Olympic Games 2020.
The initiative is taken by Kuldeep Ahlawat, who recently inaugurated the extension of Indian Sports Fan, India's largest sports fan community in London. The launch was followed by the first Women's Exhibition encompassing 50 years of Indian Women Hockey on the occasion of Hockey Women's World Cup 2018.
Extending the fan drive, UK Head of Indian Sports Fan expressed: "This is a matter of great pride for us to celebrate Indian sports even in London. Our aim is to create more sporting events in London and to promote Indian sports worldwide."
With over 70,000 followers on its social media profile, the Indian Sports Fan team took shape in the form of an exclusive WhatsApp group that has 150-odd high powered fans, league team owners, sports media, and sportspersons.
Prominent players such as Asian Game Gold medalist, Ashish Ballal (Olympian and former goalkeeper, Hockey), Boxer Akhil Kumar, former goalkeeper Baljeet Singh (Hockey), India's first woman Olympic medalist Karnam Malleswari (weightlifting), sportscaster Sahil Khattar, and Sunil Taneja along with various other sports media people and fans are a part of the worldwide group.