Chhattisgarh government today awarded 466 outstanding sportspersons from the state under various categories and genres at a ceremony held here.
While 27 sportspersons were conferred with State Sports Awards, 439 players were given various other sports awards sponsored by Sports and Youth Welfare Department, for their excellent performance in various games.
Cash prizes of nearly Rs 71 lakh were distributed on the occasion.
"We will strive to maintain this positive environment for sports activities in state, created due to the collective efforts of government, sports associations and sportspersons," Chief Minister Raman Singh said while addressing the State Sports Award ceremony at Balbeer Singh Juneja Indoor Stadium.
The chief minister especially congratulated former captain of Indian women's hockey team Saba Anjum, a native of Durg district, who was selected for Arjuna Award.
On the occasion, Shaheed Rajeev Pandey Award was given to Radha Yadav in paralympic (swimming), Anil Kumar Kaushik (handball), T Ningraj Reddy in softball, Sheela Dewangan, Renu and Ashita Dohre in fencing.
Likewise, Shaheed Kaushal Yadav Award was conferred upon Mamta Pisda for paralympic (swimming), Megha Sahu for powerlifting, Sonu Sahu for Kayanqi Canoing, Ajay Pratap Singh, Anjana Deji Ekka, Sangeeta Kaur, and Sharanjeet Kaur for Basketball and Renuka Rajpoot for hockey.
Veer Hanuman Singh Award for Best Coach was conferred upon Budhram Sarang.
Shaheed Pankaj Vikram Award was given to Volleyball player Sheela Nikunj, Table Tennis player Vinay Baiswade, Carrom player KJ Paul, Wushu Player Manoj Thakur, Baseball player Syed Manzoor Ali Rizvi, Swimmer Kritika Chincholkar and Judo player Vijay Kumar Nag.
Shaheed Vinod Choubey Award was given to Guru Dayal Kaushal for Volleyball, Shatrugan Yadav for Kabaddi, Dr Gulam Mustafa Hasan for Hockey, KPS Chouhan and Sateesh Chandra Tripathi for basketball.
