BHOPAL: India’s Beijing Olympic gold medalist shooter Abhinav Bindra bestowed top sports awards of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on 25 sportspersons at Ravindra Bhawan here on Friday night at a glittering function.
These awards christened as Vikram, Eklavya and Vishwamitra awards were presented amid thunderous applause. On this occasion, Madhya Pradesh Minister of State for Sports and Youth Welfare (independent charge) Tukojirao Puar, who presided over the glittering function, announced government jobs for Vikram awardees.
As per Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh’s announcement Bindra, who won the 10m air rifle gold medal at Beijing Olympics was presented a check for Rs. 500,000 on the occasion.
Speaking briefly as the chief guest, Bindra exhorted sportspersons to believe in their dreams and never give up even when there are difficulties on the way. He expressed gratitude toward Madhya Pradesh government for inviting him to Bhopal. He also thanked the residents of Bhopal for giving him a warm welcome. He extended his well wishes to the players imbibing training in various sports academies here.
Bindra presented one of his personal rifles to Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy as a gift which was received by M. P. Shooting Academy’s coach Ved Prakash.
Describing Bindra as pride of India, Minister of State for Sports Puar welcomed him on behalf of government and people of Madhya Pradesh. He also expressed his gratitude toward former Sports Minister of Madhya Pradesh and MP from Gwalior Yashodhara Raje Scindia for giving fillip to sports in the state.
At the function, 10 Vikram, 11 Eklavya and three Vishwamitra awards were given away in addition to a Lifetime Achievement award. Vikram Award carrying Rs. 50,000 is presented to the outstanding players of the state. Eklavya Award is conferred upon upcoming sportspersons which carries prize money of Rs. 25,000 whereas Rs. 50,000 Vishwamitra Awards are given to sports coaches. The Lifetime Achievement award also carries Rs. 50,000.
The players who were decorated with awards are as follows: Vikram awardees: Purnima Janane of Indore (shooting), Ankit Pachaur of Bhopal (canoeing-kayaking), Vikas Sharma of Bhopal (karate), Monica Namdev of Bhopal (wushu), Jagmit Singh Mand of Bhopal (taekwondo), Shashwat Patel of Bhopal (gymnastics), Pooja Jain of Indore (kabaddi), Sikandar Kureel of Indore (softball) Pankaj Soni of Ujjain (malkhamb, which is included in Olympics, Asian Games and National Games) and Sachin Verma Jabalpur (swimming — handicapped category).
Eklavya awardees: Anjul Namdev of Jabalpur (wushu), Divya Gupta of Bhopal (karate), Mohammad Nafees Qureshi of Bhopal (canoeing-kayaking), Saurabh Verma of Dhar (badminton), Renu Yadav of Raisen (baseball), Aman Vyas of Bhopal (sailing), Ajay Mourya of Khandwa (taekwondo), Geeta Verma of Indore (cricket), Praveen Kumar Kurre of Bhopal (Boxing), Saurabh Raghuvanshi of Indore (tennis) and Kamal Kushwaha of Bhopal (throwball).
Vishwamitra awardees: Devprakash Pilania of Bhopal (shooting), Bittu Sharma Bhatte of Bhopal (judo) and Ratan Gambhir of Jabalpur (karate). The Lifetime Achievement Award went posthumously to the late K. S. Rathore for his remarkable contribution to equestrian.
