A rousing state reception was accorded by the Haryana government to the Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik after she arrived this morning from Rio de Janeiro, says a report in The Times Of India, adding that Sakshi touched down in the Capital in the wee hours and was received by the Ministers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Haryana. Haryana's sports and youth affairs minister Anil Vij, who was present in Rio as head of state delegation, accompanied the wrestler on the return flight.
Sakshi then travelled to Bahadurgarh in Jhajjar district, where Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar along with his senior cabinet colleagues Capt Abhimanyu and O P Dhankar, among others, welcomed the star athlete. At the grand felicitation function at Bahadurgarh, Sakshi was handed a cheque of Rs 2.5 crore by the Chief Minister. She was also appointed as Haryana's brand ambassador for 'Beti Padhao-Beti Bachao' programme,” says the report.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, Sakshi’s mother said that she mere 13 years old when she started wrestling. “We are very proud of her achievement. It’s a very proud moment for us as it’s come at a time when the country was yearning for a medal. She was in class eight when she said ‘Mummy mujhe games khelni hai’, maine kaha padai karo pehle. When I took her to a stadium nearby and showed her different sports such as badminton, gymnastics, she said she was only interested in wrestling. I told her that it required a lot of hard work and physical fitness, but she was persistent and said she’d study alongside her wrestling. Usne tabhi decide kar liya ki woh wrestling hi karegi (She decided right then that she would take up wrestling),” she said.
