Press Trust of India
New Delhi, August 31: Amidst an auditorium full of star struck students, fellow athletes and family members, Rio Games silver medallist PV Sindhu and bronze medallist Sakshi Malik were felicitated Wednesday by the Delhi government for their stupendous performances.
The Delhi government awarded rupees two crore to Sindhu, rupees one crore to Sakshi Malik, `5,00,000 each to coaches Pullela Gopichand and Mandeep Singh, `3,00,000 each to table tennis player Manika Batra and 4x400m relay athlete Lalit Mathur. The physio duo of PV Sindhu, Subodh and Kiran Challagundla, were also felicitated.
Praising the two Indian medal winners and their coaches Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the players had honoured the gathering by gracing the occasion. “I don’t know how much we have honoured them, it is them who have honoured us by being here,” he said.
The players kept their addresses short and sweet by thanking their coaches, parents and everyone for the support they received.
“We had no phones in Rio, we found out later when we came to India when people told us that the roads were empty when the matches were going on. I am thankful for your love and support,” Sindhu stated.
“Thank you for the support, will need it in the future also so that I can keep getting medals for the country,” Sakshi stated during his speech.
Two time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar was also present at the ceremony along with deputy CM Manish Sisodia.
The rain delayed the ceremony by an hour but all was forgotten once the players reached except when the anchor called Sakshi Malik, ‘Sakshi Tomar’ and stuttered with the names of the players constantly throughout the ceremony.
