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Journalism of Courage
With less than a year left for 2020 Olympics, Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Sandeep Singh Wednesday said that his ministry has readied a roadmap for supporting players qualifying for the 2020 Olympics, apart from working on a plan to prepare young players from the state for the 2028 Olympics.
Singh, who met members of the Haryana Arjuna Awardees Association on Wednesday, said: “We have made a plan to support Haryana players, who have or will qualify for the 2020 Olympics. Indian hockey teams have booked their spot in 2020 Olympics apart from players from Indian shooting teams and Haryana government will provide all the support to the players form the state competing in the Olympics.”
He added: “Apart from that, my target is preparing youngsters for 2028 Olympics. More than 80 per cent of medal winning athletes in Haryana come from rural background and our focus will be to identify villages and providing coaching and facilities to such villages and sports so that we can prepare medallists of the 2028 Olympics. Some villages have stadiums but there are lack of players and we have to see which sport can be played and coaching centres can be made seeing interest and capability of players in respective sports. I believe the foundation has to be strong in every sport and that’s the way we can prepare future’s Olympic medallists.”
About India’s chances in field hockey, Singh, former captain of the Indian hockey team said: “It has always been tough in Olympics and I am sure Indian teams can win a medal in the 2020 Olympics. The Indian men’s team is young and the teams has experienced played like Manpreet Singh and PR Sreejesh. The team has good drag-flickers like Rupinder Pal Singh, Varun Kumar and Harmanpreet Singh and I am sure the team will play to its potential in Tokyo. Same goes with Indian women’s team and our support is always with the whole team.”
More than 25 Arjuna awardees from Haryana, including the 1966 Asian Games gold medallist Bhim Singh, 1972 CWG gold medallist Jagroop Singh, 1982 Asian Games gold medallist Chand Ram, former Indian women’s hockey captain Pritam Siwach, boxers Raj Kumar Sangwan and Dinesh Kumar, met Singh and shared their ideas.
“All these players are part of the sports family of the state and we can never forget their contribution to Indian sport and the state of Haryana. I had a meeting with them earlier and they presented their views regarding various sports in the state. We will make them part of the panel formed by Sports Ministry and the focus will be on conducting clinics by these experienced players and coaches with our coaches and seek their expertise in their respective sports. When we talk of providing sports facilities to each village in the state, the role and expertise of our former players and coaches is also very important,” said Singh.
