National awards sans media

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On a day President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the National Awards to various sports-persons at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Wednesday, a section of the media including a correspondent with the national broadcaster, Doordarshan, was left stranded outside the Ashoka Hall where the ceremony was being held. The mediapersons and close to 50 guests were not allowed entry as the marshals at the gate closed the entry at about 5 pm, half an hour before the scheduled close.

“We can’t help it. The house is full. There will be no more entry,” the guard manning the gate said. The problem arose as the government distributed close to 1000 guest passes for the ceremony while the capacity of the hall is about 400.
“I have seen people carrying guest card with serial number 1,000 enter the hall,” one of man supervising the entry said even as he showed the attendance of 653 guests in his register.
The serial number on a guest card denotes the order in which cards have been issued. Even Indian Olympic Association secretary general Randhir Singh was not spared the ordeal but he made his way inside from another entry point.
Inside the hall, shooter Vijay Kumar and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt were jointly conferred the country’s highest sporting honour — the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award — to thunderous applause for their exploits at the London Olympics.
The award includes a trophy, medal, citation and a cash prize of `7.5 lakh each.
“This award brings a big responsibility on my shoulders. It’s the biggest award that I have received in my career. I am really excited and feeling proud,” Vijay said later.
The selection committee made an exception of giving out the prestigious award to the duo against the norm of one taking into consideration their feats of winning an Olympic medal this year.
“It is a great occasion for us and the happiest moment of our lives. It is a proud moment for me,” the 29-year-old Dutt said.
The loudest applause for an Arjuna awardee was reserved for cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who has returned to the game after overcoming a rare form of germ cell cancer.
Hockey mid-fielder Sardar Singh, wrestlers Geeta Phogat and Narsingh Yadav, shooters Annu Raj Singh and Omkar Singh, shuttlers P. Kashyap and Ashwini Ponappa, archers Deepika Kumari and Bombayla Devi were among the some well known names conferred the Arjuna Award.
“It’s a special award for me. I had been nominated few times but finally I got it this time. It’s a proud moment for me and my family. The award will give me a lot of confidence to make a comeback,” Yuvraj said.
Cuban coach B.I. Fernandez became the first foreign recipient of the Dronacharya Award on the day for his immense contribution to the growth of boxing in the country.
Both Arjuna and Dronacharya awar-dees were given statuettes, citations and a cash prize of ` 5 lakh each.

List of awardees:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Vijay Kumar (shooting) and Yogeshwar
Dutt (wrestling).
Arjuna Awards: Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi (both archery), Sudha Singh, Kavita Raut (both athletics), Ashwani Ponnappa, Parupalli Kashyap (both badminton), Aditya Mehta (billiards and snooker), Vikas Krishan (boxing), Yuvraj Singh (cricket), Sardar Singh (hockey), Yashpal Solanki (judo), Anup Kumar (kabaddi), Samir Suhag (polo), Annu Raj Singh, Omkar Singh, Joydeep Karmakar (all shooting), Deepika Pallikal (Squash), Sandeep Sejwal (swimming), Sonia Chanu (weightlifting), Narsingh Yadav, Rajinder Kumar, Geeta Phogat (all wrestling),
M. Bimoljit Singh (wushu), Deepa Mallick (Athletics – Paralympics), Ramkaran Singh (Athletics – Paralympics).
Dronacharya Awards: Virender Poonia (athletics), Sunil Dabas (kabaddi), Yashvir Singh (wrestling), Harendra Singh (hockey), Satyapal Singh (para sports — athletics), J.S. Bhatia (athletics, lifetime achievement), Bhawani Mukherjee (table tennis, lifetime achievement) and B.I.Fernandez (boxing)