Punjab Government has decided to honour all Punjabi players who had brought laurels for the country by winning medals in the ongoing Asian Games.
Besides, the winners of Commonwealth Games would also be honoured after the closing of the Asian Games, presently underwent at Incheon in South Korea.The announcement came after the Indian hockey team, comprising seven players from Punjab, defeated its arch rival Pakistan to clinch the gold medal on Thursday.
Felicitating the Indian hockey team for bringing golden glory to the country by bagging the gold medal, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the team had made every Indian proud by registering a spectacular win in the Asiad after 16 years.
He said the captain, coach, manager and every member of the Indian hockey team deserved applause for their outstanding performance.“This is a great moment for the Indian sports as the Indian Hockey team has made every Indian walk taller. I hope that this win will go a long way in regaining back the pristine glory of India’s national game by inspiring our budding players to further excel in the game,” added Badal.
At the same time, Badal expressed solidarity with the boxer Sarita Devi, saying that every Indian was proud her as she fought like a tigress. “Sarita, you are our champion,” said Badal.Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the sports portfolio, also congratulated the winning Indian hockey squad.
“We are proud of them as they demonstrated wonderful game with all hard work and efforts to beat their rival team,” said Sukhbir.
Appreciating the game played by Indian team including captain Sardara Singh, the seven players from Punjab — Rupinder Pal Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Dharmvir Singh, Gurbhaj Singh, Gurwinder Singh Chandi and Manpreet Singh, Sukhbir said that this victory has brought two celebrations since besides clinching victory the Indian team secured berth for Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics.
lauding the role of Punjabi players in securing the shootout goals for this victory, he said: “We all should feel proud that the Indian team led by Sardara Singh, which had seven players from the State.”
He said the Government was paying full attention towards the promotion of sports by strengthening the sports infrastructure besides providing world class sports facilities in centres of excellence.