Hyderabad, October 24: Badminton stars Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta, and shooter Gagan Narang were among the sportspersons to be felicitated by the Andhra Pradesh government here this evening for their medal winning performance in the recently concluded Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Governor ESL Narasimhan and Chief Minister K Rosaiah also handed over cash awards to the sportspersons and their coaches besides felicitating them at a function organised at the Jubillee Hall here.
Apart from the citation, players winning gold, silver and bronze medals were also given cash award of Rs 10 lakh, Rs 7.5 lakh and Rs five lakh respectively by the state government.
Congratulating the medal winners on their performance, the Governor said these sportspersons had done the state and the nation proud by winning the medals.
“Sports brings in the values of dedication, commitment and discipline. In some countries military training is mandatory and I think sports should also be made compulsory,” Narasimhan said adding, “We need to grow the culture of sports. We need to support the players when they are on a high and also when they are down.”
The Governor further said Andhra Pradesh government as part of promoting sports was providing the best of infrastructure for the players and encouraging them.
Chief Minister Rosaiah and State Minister for Youth Services and Sports Komati Reddy Venkata Reddy also congratulated to the sportspersons for their achievements.
Tennis star Sania Mirza, weightlifter V Srinivas Rao, athlete Sathi Geetha, shuttler P Kashyap, archers Ch Jignas and Ritul Chatterjee besides chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand and other coaches were also felicitated on the occasion.
The parents of shooter Asher Noria and athlete Abdul Najeeb Qureshi were presented with the awards in their absence.
Later, speaking to media, Shooter Gagan Narang, who won four medals in the CWG, said, “With Asian Games coming up next month, the preparations are on the right track. Let’s hope for the best,”.
“We can beat any country…if we have the right kind of support from the people of the nation,” he added.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal said she was looking forward to playing and winning medal in the upcoming Asian Games.
Asked on her chances of winning, she said, “With Chinese also playing its going to be very tough. But, I just hope if I play with the same level of confidence I can (win a medal). I’m ready for the Asian Games.”
–PTI