CUTTACK 21-Feb-2007 134
Orissa Cricket Associaiton felicitated State sportspersons for winning medals in the Guwahati National Games at a glittering function at Barabati Stadium here today. Forty-eight sportspersons shared a total cash incentive of Rs 4,71,200 for bagging five gold, two silver and eight bronze medals in the 33rd edition of the Games.
Ace woman rower Pravasini Dwivedy was the biggest beneficiary, receiving Rs 1,40,000. She won two golds in individual capacity, claimed another gold and a silver with Monalisa Mohanty as her partner. Monalisa, her fellow woman rowers Kavita Shyanti, Mamata Jena and woman karateka Valena Valentina became richer by Rs 40,000 each.
International woman hurdler Anuradha Biswal, who won a silver medal, was the third major beneficiary with a purse of Rs 30,000. Bronze medal-winning woman boxers Mamata Panda and Swarnasikha Biswal were given Rs 20,000 each. The 18-member woman football team, which created history by beating favourites Manipur for the gold, shared Rs 50,000 with each footballer getting Rs 2,800.
Woman rowers Nivedita Mohapatra, Pratima Puhana: women kayaking and canoeing medallists Sabita Mishra, Monalisa Dhal, Jayanti Bhuyan and Usharani Swain took home Rs 5,000 each. The lowest beneficiary was the bronze medal winning men’s hockey team with 16 players getting Rs 1,300 each. Coaches Jose Jacob (rowing), Nanda Kishore Patnaik (woman football), Arun Kumar Das (athletics), Sourya Ranjan Parija (karate), K C Mohanty (men’s hockey), Sasmita Das (woman boxing) and Manmohan Mishra (canoeing kayaking) were honoured with mementos and shawls.
State Higher Education Minister Samir Dey, Sports Minister Debasis Nayak, OCA president Ranjib Biswal, secretary Asirbad Behera, State Sports Secretary S P Thakur, East Coast Railway Sports Association president D K Samantaray, Orissa Association of Rowing and Sculling secretary Binod Dash, Baseball Association of Orissa secretary Sibananda Pradhan were among a galaxy of guests and officials present on the occasion.
The Sports Minister said the State Government would announce incentives for the Games medallists on March 5. ``The election code of conduct prevented us from disclosing it today,’’ he added. Speech-making constituted the major part of the two-hour-long felicitation function. Most speakers felt providing better infrastructure, coaching, equipment and sponsorship could help sportspersons achieve greater success for the State in the 34th National Games to be held next year in Jharkhand.
Giving employment to outstanding sportspersons was another suggestion that figured prominently in the speeches. D K Samantaray said East Coast Railway would recruit more woman hockey and volleyball players to constitute full-fledged teams in the respective disciplines. He also announced that the new railway zone would seek permission from the Railway Board to recruit a woman’s football team.
