GUWAHATI, Jan 6: The year 2009 could be the most memorable year for Indian star shuttler Saina Nehwal. Her magnificent performance in the court gave a couple of titles including international meet and she finished 2009 bagging the best Indian sportsperson award of the year. That is not the end. Today, she received a luxurious car from the Assam Badminton Association (ABA), for becoming the best Indian sportsperson of the year 2009.
The key of the car was today handed over to Saina by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in the inaugural function of the 74th Senior National Badminton Championship which got under way at the Karmavir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium here today. In a brief reaction to The Sentinel, after collecting the key, Saina said, “It is really a very nice feeling for me that I got a car because of my performance in the court.”
It is a very rare scene in Indian sports that a player, who is not a cricketer, winning a car for his performance. But Assam Badminton Association, in collaboration with Maruti Suzuki, decided to gift cars to the singles winners of 74th National Badminton Championship. On the other hand, they also decided to gift a car to Saina for winning the best Indian sportsperson award for the year 2009.
Saina was really surprised to see that this time both the singles winners of the National Badminton Championship will get a luxury car from the organizer. Replying a query she said, “Generally there were trophies and cash incentives for the badminton players who performed well in the different championships. But I am really surprised to see that in this national meet singles champions will receive a car. It’s incredible.”
Meanwhile, the Assam Badminton Association today awarded Rs 25,000 each to the five Arjuna awardee shuttlers of the country who were present in the inaugural function of the championship. The five Arjuna awardee who received cash awards are: Chetan Anand, Saina Nehwal, Anup Sridhar, Madhumita Bisht and Avin Shyam Gupta. On the other hand, India’s one of the finest mixed doubles pair V Diju and Jawala Gutta also received cash incentives of rupees one lakh each from the Assam Badminton Association. Assam Badminton Association today also felicitated Oil India Limited in the inaugural function for its contribution towards the development of sports in the State.
Meanwhile, several matches were held on the first day of the championship. The list of the players who entered into the second round of the tournament included many Assam shuttlers. Among them are Rimi Hazarika, Rituparna Kalita, Ashmita Chaliha, Kaveri Phukam and Hirok Jyoti Neog. In the mixed doubles star pair — V Diju and Jwala Gutta started their campaign in style beating Saurabh Aggarwal and Abhilasha Tewari by 21-6, 21-6. The event was going on at the time of filing this report. THE SENTINEL
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