State govt felicitates sportspersons

RAIPUR: State government today awarded 466 sportspersons for their outstanding performance in various games, at a ceremony held here. While 27 players received State Sports Awards, 439 players were given various other awards sponsored by sports and youth welfare department.
Cash prizes of nearly Rs 71 lakh were distributed on the occasion. "We will strive to keep encouraging sports activities in state, created due to collective efforts of government, sports associations and sportspersons," chief minister Raman Singh said while addressing State Sports Award ceremony at Balbeer Singh Juneja Indoor Stadium.
Singh especially congratulated Indian women's hockey team former captain Saba Anjum, a native of Durg district, who was selected for Arjuna Award.
On the occasion, Shaheed Rajeev Pandey Award was given to Radha Yadav for swimming, Anil Kumar Kaushik for handball, T Ningraj Reddy for softball, Sheela Dewangan, Renu and Ashita Dohre for fencing.
Shaheed Kaushal Yadav Award was conferred upon Mamta Pisda for swimming, Megha Sahu for powerlifting, Sonu Sahu for Kayanqi Canoing, Ajay Pratap Singh, Anjana Deji Ekka, Sangeeta Kaur, Sharanjeet Kaur for basketball and Renuka Rajpoot for hockey.
Veer Hanuman Singh Award for best coach was conferred upon Budhram Sarang. Shaheed Pankaj Vikram Award was given to volleyball player Sheela Nikunj, table tennis player Vinay Baiswade, carrom player KJ Paul, wushu Player Manoj Thakur, baseball player Syed Manzoor Ali Rizvi, swimmer Kritika Chincholkar and judo player Vijay Kumar Nag.
Shaheed Vinod Choubey Award was given to Guru Dayal Kaushal for volleyball, Shatrugan Yadav for kabaddi, Dr Gulam Mustafa Hasan for hockey, K P S Chouhan and Sateesh Chandra Tripathi for basketball.