‘Never quit and always play your sport with a positive mindset’: Eight Paris Paralympics medallists from Haryana awarded

While India won a total of 29 medals in Paris Paralympics, eight Haryana players won medals at the games. Saini awarded the eight Paralympics medalists with cash awards totalling Rs 42 crore with gold medallists getting Rs six crore and silver medallists getting Rs four crore. While Antil won the gold in javelin throw in F64 category, Nitesh Kumar won the gold in the men’s badminton SL3 category. Dharambir Nain won the gold in men’s throw in F51 category while Harvinder Singh won the gold in men’s recover archery at Paris. Manish Narwal won the silver in men’s 10m air pistol shooting SH1 event. Bahadurgarh native Yogesh Kathunia, who suffers from Guillain–Barré syndrome, won the silver in men’s discus throw F56 event while Faridabad native Pranav Soorma, who was left quadriplegic after his home’s roof fell, had won the silver in men’s club throw F51 in Paris. Panipat native Navdeep Singh had won the silver in men’s javelin throw F41 event. Navdeep Singh, who got the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar from the then president Pranav Mukherjee in 2012, feels such awards will motivate the youngsters in the state to excel as well take up sports at a young level. “Whenever our state Haryana honours each one of us, it not only recognises us but also the efforts of every person in our journey. Through this award function, which also saw the start of the second phase of Khel Mahakumbh, the youngsters in the state will also be motivated and take up sports and stay away from society evils like drugs. Every youngster is Haryana’s treasure and we are glad that our medals will inspire them,” said Navdeep Singh.

Faridabad native Pranav Soorma too echoed the same. “Such support always acts as motivation to athletes as well the youngsters. Players like us too had started sports seeing our role models win medals for Haryana and India and same will be with the players present here competing in the Khel Mahakumbh. Such recognitions also motivate us to give our best in future competitions,” said Soorma.

Khel Mahakumbh was launched in 2017 and since then five editions of the competition have been held. In the first phase of the Khel Mahakumbh, a total of 15,140 athletes competed in 26 sports. In the second phase, a total of 9,959 athletes will be competing. “Khel Mahakumbh is not just a sporting event but a platform that nurtures the dream of Haryana’s youth and it reflects the state’s spirit of excellence in sports. PM Narendra Modi had set the goal of establishing India as a sports superpower by the 2036 Olympics and has expressed the desire to host the Olympics in India. I am confident that Haryana athletes will win the most medals for India at that time. This Khel Mahakumbh also aims to nurture young talent in various disciplines and it’s our endeavour to help players win medals for Haryana at the national and for India at international level,” said Saini.

Haryana minister of state for sports, Gaurav Gautam, too shared about Haryana being the leader in sports in India. “Haryana has always benefited from the leader in terms of taking initiatives for sportspersons and this Khel Mahakumbh too is in that direction. Under the leadership of Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, Haryana State Games too will be organised later this year,” said Gautam.

Haryana CM always awarded 31 Haryana coaches with a total cash award of Rs 3.56 crore for their outstanding contributions to sport. Apart from coaches, gold medalists from this year’s national games apart from in-charges of 75 exceptional sports nurseries in the state and 75 outstanding coaches from the sports department too were honoured.