Chandigarh: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today felicitated 5 Punjabi players, who have been inducted in Indian Hockey Team for London Olympic Games starting from July 29. It may be mentioned here that Punjabi Players namely Gurvinder Singh Chandi (Jalandhar), Dharmvir Singh (Ropar), Gurbaz Singh (Zira) and Manjeet Singh (Jalandhar) have been included in Indian Squad while Sarwanjit Singh (Batala) has been kept standby.

Badal, who is Sports Minister and President Hockey Punjab today said that Punjabis have a great passion for hockey and always played a significant role in Indian Hockey Team’s achievements at International level. He said that India had won 8 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals in Olympics and one can never forget the deciding role played by Punjabi players. He said that Punjab has maximum 5 players in Indian Squad for London Olympics than any other state. He said that in last Olympics India got first individual Gold medal that was also through ace Punjabi Shooter Abhinav Bindra.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that Punjab government was committed to promote sports in the state at bigger canvas. He said that the SAD-BJP government has set up 14 World Class Stadiums with 6 Hockey Astroturfs’ including 2 Blue and Pink Astroturfs’ being used in London Olympics. Extending his good wishes to all the Punjabi players participating in London Olympics, Badal announced to give Rs.2 crore cash prize to each Olympic gold medal winner.

Indian Sports News Network