Disappointed at the exclusion of Sourav Kothari and Chitra Magimairaj from the Arjuna Awards list, ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani today said the central government is discriminating and not giving due recognition to non-Olympic sportspersons in the country.
"Why there must be a discrimination. Why are we looking at the Olympics and Asian Games as be all and end all sport, and measure our sporting excellence just based on our performances in Olympics," he told reporters here after he was felicitated by the Karnataka Snooker and Billiards Association for winning his 13th World Championship title in Karachi.
Advani, who pocketed his 13th World title after defending his World 6-Red Snooker crown, had outplayed top Chinese cueist Yan Bingtao 6-2 in the best-of-11 frame final.
But Advani is concerned about the plight of cue sport players in the country and urged the government to look into these things and implement policies without discriminating Olympics and non-Olympics sportspersons in terms of recognising their achievements.
"I don't know what is really happening when it comes to decision - who makes this decision, but someone really needs to look at these things seriously," he said.
Advani believes tha the government should realise that the cuesport players are as deserving as Olympians and Asiad players.
"If policies are made for the development of sports I think the government realises that we (cueists) also achieve as much as those sports persons competing in Olympics and Asiad," he said.
Advani also feels that the cue coaches and trainers are also not given their due for creating world champions over the years.
"It is disappointing that our trainers and coaches do not get Dronacharya awards just because they are not participating in Olympics," he said.
Advani said it is also sad that the Sports Authority of India cuts half of the total funds allocated for cue sports.
"Our funds by the SAI is cut by half because we are not playing in any four-years sports event," he said.
