Anglian Medal Hunt Company

Anglian Medal Hunt Company^[1] often abbreviated as AMHC^[2] is a sports management company based in New Delhi.

Formed through the mutual efforts of sports enthusiasts with a keen business acumen, AMHC is the first for profit entity of its kind in India. Formed in January 2013, within a short period of two years AMHC is managing more than 40 athletes across disciplines such as athletics, boxing, shooting, badminton and tennis.

Anglian Medal Hunt promotes a strong sporting culture across the nation and has a very wide network of grassroots programs to identify young and upcoming talents with the potential of making it big internationally.

A few of its prodigious finds include 16-year-old athlete Beant Singh and Middle-distance runner Kisan Tadvi, both of whom won Gold in the First Asian Youth Athletics Championships in 2015. Other established names assisted by AMHC include boxing sensations Shiva Thapa and Devendro Singh, race walker Khushbir Kaur and ace shooters like Ronjan Sodhi and Manavjit Singh Sandhu among others.

Once the athletes are identified, AMHC assists them by taking responsibility of their Marketing and also advising them on matters related to travels, training and sponsorship and allows them to achieve the ultimate objective of winning medals in international competitions.

Conceptualization

AMHC was conceived through the joint efforts of sports enthusiasts with an eye for identifying business potential. Maneesh Bahuguna, Chief Executive Officer of AMHC and Sandeep Narang, Chairperson of the New Delhi based investment company Anglian Omega Group were two such men.

Introduced by a common friend, the two were immediately captivated by the idea of investing in sports. Narang had already reaped the benefits of buying a small brand and turning it into something big, having seen his brother purchase the Danish football club FC Vestsjælland for a small amount and gradually increasing its valuation manifold, before finally selling it for a sizeable profit.

Narang was willing to take this measured risk in Olympic sports as well, sold on the fact that there was no one else doing what Bahuguna proposed to do: create a for-profit company that would invest in Olympic athletes, take their brand international and capitalize on them as they grew under the Anglian umbrella.^[3]

Although there were numerous Nonprofit organizations in the field, for a model that was sustainable in the long run, Bahuguna felt commercialization was an absolute necessity. Aware of the risks of making the company a commercial entity, the two decided to push forward with the idea nonetheless, with the vision of investing in the future and thus, the first ever for-profit company investing in Olympic sport was created in the country.

After having keenly observed and scouted the sports circuit in India for a considerable period, the Company decided to make its first signings in the promising talent of race walker Irfan Kolothum Thodi and the upcoming boxer Shiva Thapa in 2013.

The Company has also been involved in promoting sports in charity events, with its Olympian athletes K.T. Irfan, Shiva Thapa and M. R. Poovamma having volunteered to run alongside visually impaired children in the Salwan Cross Country Marathon 2013 in New Delhi.^[4][5]

After a series of strong performances in the Commonwealth Games 2014, Asian Games, and the First Asian Youth Athletics Championships, the Company's athletes are presently training for the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro.

Achievements

AMHC’s sportspeople have maintained consistent world rankings. Its boxers Shiva Thapa and Devendro Singh are ranked World No. 3 by AIBA.^[6] Shiva Thapa and Sumit Sangwan were facilitated by the Company into participating in the World Series of Boxing in 2014, becoming the first ever athletes from India to take part in the league.^{[7][8] [9] [10]}

In 2013, Shiva Thapa and Sumit Sangwan reached the quarterfinals of the World Amateur Boxing Championships. Mandeep Jhangra, also supported by Anglian Medal Hunt Company, entered round 2 of the competition.^{[11][12][13][14][15][16]}

AMHC's group of sportspersons includes renowned athletes like Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee and former World No. 1 double trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi,^[17] as well as prodigies like badminton player Aditya Joshi and ace shot putter Inderjeet Singh who was one of the first Indians to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In February 2014, the Company celebrated its completion of one year of operation with a gala event involving big brands and sporting celebrities.^[18][19]

Anglian Medal Hunt Company's major corporate partnerships include TK Sports, Dhampur Sugar Mills, and United Colors of Benetton.

A list of a few of the Company's athletes' best performances (as of May 2015) are as follows:-

Athletes

Boxers

-Shooters

Facilities

Anglian Medal Hunt Company provides training, procurement of equipment and requisite international exposure. The organisation follows strict criteria for its selection of medal-prospective athletes, who are then trained by a highly credible network of mentors, physiotherapists and mental conditioners.

AMHC also conducts medical tests for its athletes, based on which each athlete is given a customized diet plan. It advises athletes on anti-doping measures including awareness on WADA-prohibited substances.

All of AHMC’s athletes receive mind-training, sessions with nutritionists and physiotherapists, kits and food supplements.

In addition to this, the junior athletes are also put in national camps: the AHMC requests the Sports Authority of India (SAI), proves that the athlete is not a misfit at that level, and pays the SAI a subsidized fee (to allow the athlete to train at their elite-level national camp, which is otherwise meant only for the national team).

Supported athletes

Some of the athletes supported by Anglian Medal Hunt Company:^{[2][20][21][22][23]}

Athletics

1. KT Irfan, 20 km Walk
2. Khushbir Kaur, 20 km Walk^[24]
3. Inderjeet Singh, Shot Put
4. M. R. Poovamma, 400m
5. Navjeet Kaur Dhillon, Discus
6. Arpinder Singh, Triple Jump
7. Kisan Tadvi, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m
8. Beant Singh, 800m
9. Anjana Thamke, 400m and 800m^[25][26][27]
10. Durga Deore, 800m
11. Dutee Chand, 100m^[28]
12. Sanjeevani Jadhav, 3000m, 5000m, 10,000m
13. Nirbhay Singh, Discus
14. Shakti Solanki, Shot Put

Boxing

1. Devendro Singh, Light flyweight^[29][30]
2. Sumit Sangwan, Light heavyweight
3. Gaurav Bidhuri, Flyweight
4. Shiva Thapa, Bantamweight^{[31][32][33][34][35]}
5. Prayag Chauhan, Lightweight
6. Mandeep Jangra, Welterweight
7. Pinki Rani, Flyweight
8. Manoj Kumar, Light Welterweight

Shooting

1. Ronjan Sodhi, Double Trap
2. Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Trap
3. Mampi Das
4. Samarjeet Singh
5. Anisa Sayyed^[36]
6. Malaika Goel

Badminton

1. Aditya Joshi
2. Simran Singhi

Cricket

1. Rudra Bidhuri

Tennis

1. Ankita Raina

Cycling

1. Deborah, Time Trial, Sprint, Karem

Notes

References

• The Hindu newspaper Entrepreneurs pitch in for Olympic medal hunt