New Delhi: Bengal sportspersons had a field day on Wednesday when three of its star performers were conferred with Arjuna Awards in the capital. Pankaj Advani, the only second person in the world to win both billiards and snooker world title, expectedly bagged the country’s highest sporting honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
National champion archer Dola Banerjee, chess prodigy Surya Sekhar Ganguly and double national champion paddler Soumyadeep Roy were named among the 15 Arjuna Award winners.
Unlike the previous few years when the Arjuna and the Dronacharya awards were dogged with controversies amidst allegations of giving it away to undeserving sportspersons, the awardees this year seem to have been chosen more carefully though some eyebrows were raised on the list of Dronacharya winners.
If the biggest surprise of Arjuna list was the absence of a male cricketer, then the award remained out of bound for any footballer for the second year running. In fact, football was the only major sport which did not find favour in the roll of honours.
When asked, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) general secretary, Alberto Colaco said the names of two footballers — Jo Paul Ancheri and S. Venkatesh — were recommended to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for the highest sporting honours in the country, but he has no idea why at least one of them were not considered.
No doubt, AIFF has to blame itself for missing out on the list once again. It is no secret that all the sports federations do indulge in quite a bit of lobbying to get the award for sportspersons of their respective disciplines.
Given the fact that the current head of the AIFF has lot of clout in the corridors of power at the government level, the omission of a footballer from the Arjuna award list could be heartbreaking for the followers of the game.
Cricket fans, however, can take consolation from the fact that at least woman cricketer Anju Jain has received the award which she richly deserves.
Same could be said about shooter Gagan Narang, athlete Manjit Kaur and shuttler Aparna Popat, who looked set to win the awards from the day their names were recommended.
While Narang’s gold winning feat in the World Cup in China early this year was a unique achievement, Kaur has been dominating the Asian scene in the 400 metres for quite sometime now. About Popat, the only thing could be said that she should have got it even before.
Indian skipper Rahul Dravid was believed to be in contention for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, but ministry sources said that the cricket board delayed in submitting his name.
While the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award carries a cash award of Rs five lakhs, Arjuna awardees will receive Rs three lakhs each from the president APJ Abdul Kalam in a function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in the capital on August 29 (Tuesday).
Dhyanchand awards for lifetime achievements has a cash award of Rs three lakhs each and are not given to more than three sportspersons in a particular year.
