The Hindu : Sport : BPCL achievers felicitated

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Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007
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Sport

BPCL achievers felicitated

Special Correspondent

— Photo: PTI

BASKING IN GLORY: Tushar Khandekar, Saina Nehwal and S. Sreesanth at the BPCL achievers felicitation ceremony in Mumbai on Sunday.

MUMBAI: Saina Nehwal got the loudest applause and received Rs. 6,06,000 as cash incentive at the BPCL Sports Achievers 2005-06, 2006-07 felicitation function on Sunday at the ITC Grand Central hotel.

Saina became the first Indian to win a four-star tournament, the Philippines Open, last year, climbing to World No. 21 in women’s badminton rankings at one time and is currently ranked 25th in the world.

S. Sreesanth’s exploits with the new ball against South Africa and performances as part of the Twenty20 World Cup squad was recognised with a cash award of Rs. 4,75,000. Cueists Manan Chandra, Devendra Joshi received Rs. 5,84,000 and Rs. 4,09,000 respectively, while Anupama Gokhale (chess) and M.M. Somaya (hockey) were honoured for lifetime achievements.

Chairman and MD, Ashok Sinha, gave away the awards.

Saina confident

Saina expressed confidence about taking on the Chinese at world events.

“I have played against the Chinese women so many times that the fear of playing them is gone,” said the 17-year-old, now banking on fitness to pull her through tough back-to-back matches.

“Working with Heath Mathew has improved my fitness. He knows exactly what to do for which sport,” she said about the South African fitness trainer contracted to work with her through the Mittal Champions Trust. “I have time till the Indian Open 2007 to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.”

Sreesanth talked about being in the zone during the Twenty20 World Cup final climax. “I was totally blank. The intensity of a final draws you into a zone, special moments like the catch happened without you realising it. The sports achievers and legends assembled here will know what I mean. All I say is express my thanks to God for being with me, thank you to Robin Singh for making me a better fielder and to captain M.S. Dhoni for putting me there.”

BPCL CMD Sinha, touched on the diversity of sports achievers among the awardees and emphasised the company policy of catching them young and giving them encouragement to realise potential. “The things you talk about on a sports field, like team building, understanding and getting the best out of players is what applies to the corporate world.”

The list of awardees and cash incentives: Manan Chandra (snooker/pool) Rs. 5,84,000; Devendra Joshi (billiards/snooker) 4,09,000; Anuja Chandra (billiards/snooker) 3,50,000; Poulomi Ghatak (table tennis) 2,87,250; Neha Agarwal (TT) 4,15,500; Tushar Khandekar (hockey) 3,05,000; William Xalxo (hoc) 2,30,000; GM Hari Prasad (hoc) 1,55,000; Saina Nehwal (badminton) 6,06,000; Jwala Gutta (bad) 3,44,750; Shruti Kurien (bad) 1,79,750; Aditi Mutatkar (bad) 560,00; Anup Sridhar (bad) 3,57,000; Arvind Bhat (bad) 1,51,000; Abhijit Gupta (chess) 4,51,000; M.R. Venkatesh (chess) 1,01,000; S. Kidambi (chess) 1,16.000; Anupama Gokhale (chess) 3,76,000; Tom Joseph (volleyball) 52,000; R. Rajeev (volleyball) 52,000; S. Sreesanth (cricket) 4,75,000; M.M. Somaya (hockey) 1,50,000.

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