PSPB felicitates 150 sportspersons

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The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board felicitated as many as 150 sportspersons for their outstanding performance in the last three years (2009 to 2012) in a glittering function in the capital on Monday evening.

Present and former sportspersons, from across 15 disciplines, were honoured at the 10th award function that was held after a gap of three years. The awards were given in several categories including the Sportsperson of the Year, Elite Sportsperson of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award and Meritorious Sportsperson Award here. The awards also included cash awards amounted `2.4 crores approx.
Shuttle queen Saina Nehwal took the Sportsperson of the Year award (2009-10, 2011-12), while P. Harikrishna (chess) and Gautam Gambhir (cricket) were named the elite sportspersons of 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Ace paddler Achantha Sharath Kamal took the Sportsperson of Year award for 2010-11.
Former table tennis stars S. Raman and S. Ramaswamy and Anupama Ghokhala (chess) were honoured with Life Time Achievement Awards.
Others who were honoured included Pankaj Advani (snooker), Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan (tennis), V.R. Raghunath and Dharamvir Singh (hockey), P. Kashyap, Aparna Balan, Jwala Gutta, V. Diju (badminton), Virat Kohli (cricket), Aditya Mehta (billiards), Chesteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane (cricket), Koneru Humpy (chess) among others.
Speaking on the occasion, Union minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and chief guest Veerappa Moily said: “We have lot of talent in our country, but we need to nurture them and bring out the best sportsman in the country. We have to see that we give the athletes the best possible resources. As premier oil companies of the country, we need to see that we scout the best sportspersons.”
Citing the example of the international football federation, Moily suggested the sports bodies should follow in the steps of Fifa during selection of teams including the national cricket squad.
PSPB has been sponsoring and supporting more than 600 sportspersons from 15 disciplines.