Olympics: Haryana to give Rs 50 lakh each to state’s 9 women’s hockey players

Chandigarh: The Haryana government will honour the nine history-making women’s hockey players of the state with cash reward of Rs 50 lakh each, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said Friday.

“Haryana government will award Rs 50 lakhs each to the nine members of the Olympic women’s hockey team who are from Haryana,” Khattar tweeted.

He congratulated the Indian women’s team for its best-ever performance at the ongoing Olympics, where it finished fourth after losing 3-4 to Great Britain in the bronze medal play-off match in Tokyo Friday.

The Indians played their hearts out and overcame a two-goal deficit to lead 3-2 at half time. But a desperate Great Britain gave their everything in the second half and scored two goals to snatch the match from India’s hands.

Back in Haryana and Punjab, families of many players remained glued to their television sets to watch in anticipation of an Indian win.

At the end of the game, skipper Rani’s father Rampal told the media at his Shahabad home in Kurukshetra that the Indian team played well and were unlucky to lose out on its maiden Olympic medal.

He said the team’s performance at the Olympics will have a positive impact on the game and will encourage youngsters to take up the sport.

Goalkeeper Savita Punia’s father Mahender Punia said there was no need to feel dejected.

“Match result may not be on their side, but they played really well,” he said.

Neha Goyal’s mother Savitri turned emotional while watching the game.

Notably, most of the women hockey players come from humble backgrounds.