Thaindian News

Kolkata, June 19 (IANS) The West Bengal government, along with the Bengal Olympic Association (BOA), Sunday awarded cash prizes to 34th National Games medal winners from the state in a glittering ceremony held at a city auditorium.

In all 170 players including the Santosh Trophy winning football team were handed out cheques and certificates for their performance in the National Games in Jharkhand in the presence of sporting icons which included legendary footballers P.K. Banerjee, Chuni Goswami, Sailen Manna, Crompton Dutta, Nikhil Nandi, Subhas Bhowmick, cricketer Sourav Ganguly, Archer Dola Banerjee and Olympian Gurbax Singh, among others.

The awardees included archer M.R. Tirkey, who got Rs.50,000 for his gold winning effort, table tennis player Anirban Nandi who finished at the podium in all the individual and team events winning a gold, two silvers and a bronze medal pocketed Rs.120,500 in all. The other gold medalists include Karate player Kunal Dey who received Rs.100,000 and table tennis player Sourav Chakrabarty who got Rs.50,000.

The men’s football team which won the gold got Rs.10,000 each and Rs.15,000 each from the government and the BOA respectively while the women’s team which won bronze got
Rs.5,000 each from the government and the BOA.

The glittering function, organised at a city auditorium, was inaugurated by Ajay Maken. State Sports Minister Madan Mitra, Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee and Mayor Sovon Chatterjee were also present.

The state government gave in all Rs. 11,92,000 while the BOA gave Rs. 13,03,500 to the medal winners.

Speaking on the occasion, Madan Mitra said: “In spite of insufficient infrastructure, our players have brought glory for the state. Our government is committed towards ensuring proper infrastructure and training facilities are provided to the players.”

The Bengal football team which won the Santosh Trophy twice in a row was greeted with huge cheering and clapping. The trophy was brought along and the team gleefully lifted it amidst loud applause.

The awardees seemed overwhelmed with the presence of so many legendary sport stars. Bangla rock band ‘Bhumi’ and famed singer Nachiketa brought the curtains down with their mesmerizing performances.