Former India captain Sourav Ganguly and tennis ace Leander Paes will be conferred Lifetime Achievement Awards, while successful football coach Subhas Bhowmick will be given 'Guru Ratna' by the state goverment at a function here on September 28.
Reacting to the news, Ganguly said: "I really feel proud to hear this. It's a massive achievement."
Excited to meet Paes who recently won his 14th career Grand Slam, Ganguly further said: "I would tell him '40 is just a number, you should go on playing."
"I would also ask him to spend more time in Kolkata as the city needs him," Ganguly added.
This is for the first time the West Bengal Ministry of Sports has constituted awards in about 50 categories for the sportspersons as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will confer them at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here, sports minister Madan Mitra said.
"We will confer sportspersons in various disciplines. We have constituted awards like 'Khel Ratna', 'Banglar Gourav' and 'Guru Ratna' besides the Lifetime Achievemt Awards," Mitra told PTI.
The government is also likely to formally announce the upcoming State Football Academy while about 6,000 clubs will get financial aids.
