Punjab confers sports awards on 123 players
It was an emotional moment for 123 sportspersons from Punjab here Saturday when they were conferred with the Maharaja Ranjit Singh sports awards.
The awards had assumed significance as they were being revived after 10 years.
The awards, which started in 1978, had been abolished in 1996 by the then Punjab government citing financial constraints. The award carries a cash reward of Rs.100,000.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh gave away the awards to those who excelled in various events between 1997 and 2004.
Punjab’s sports director and former Indian hockey captain and Olympian Pargat Singh was among those conferred the awards.
Several other sports stars failed to turn up for the function as they were participating in major events or were playing outside the country. Fourteen such players were honoured in absentia.
These included cricketers Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Dinesh Mongia, hockey Olympian Gagan Ajit Singh and shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu.
The highest number of awards went to athletes (22) followed by wrestling (16) and hockey (15). Four cricketers made it to the list.