Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 10: Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti today presented cash reward of Rs 50000 each and mementoes to outstanding sportspersons and coaches of the state.
The awards were presented on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of 27th Senior National Tennis Ball Cricket Championship here today.
In the Gymnastic category, the cash reward and memento was presented to Palak Kour Bijral of Jammu who has represented the state in various national championships/games from 2004 to 2017 and earned 13 Gold, 19 silver and 8 Bronze medals. She has also participated in 20th Commonwealth Games held in Scotland in 2014. She has also represented India at the 6th Asian Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship held at Tashkent (Uzbekistan) in 2013. Ms Bijral has also represented India in 4th Children of Asia International Games held at Yakutsk (Russia) from in 2008.
In the Gymnastic coach category, the Chief Minister presented the cash reward and memento to S P Singh. Mr Singh has the distinction of coaching more than 50 trainees who have bagged more than 50 medals in national and international championships. He has himself represented country as coach/official 10 times in international competitions between 2004 and 2012.
The Chief Minister also felicitated Rajinder Singh, resident of Samba in Wushu sports. In 2016, Singh bagged silver medal in 9th Asian Wushu Championship at Taipie China. Earlier in 2015, Singh represented the country in 5th Pars Cup Wushu Championship and earned third position at the event held at Tehran Iran.
Singh has also earned gold medal at national level as well. In the same category, Kuldeep Handoo who is a national chief coach of the game and has bagged gold medal in national and international level was also felicitated.
While praising the efforts of the coaches in honing the skills of the trainee’s of international standard, Chief Minister also felicitated Shotu lal for helping his trainees get around 130 medals in national and international competitions as fencing instructor.
The Chief Minister also presented memento to Ian Dev Singh, an outstanding cricketer and captain of state cricket team. She said the government will employ all resources to groom young sportsperson of the state.