Indian boxer Gaurav Bidhuri, a World Championships bronze-medallist, has expressed his disappointment with the Delhi Government, saying that he received no recognition for bringing glory to the nation.
The 24-year-old Delhi pugilist caught the boxing fans' attention by grabbing a bronze medal in the Bantam-Weight category (56kg) at last year's World Championships in Hamburg.
"I was the fourth Indian ever to win a medal at the World Boxing Championships. But I am a little disappointed with our state government. They have not rewarded me. Like I have ministers announcing prizes for players, before they even return to the country with medals," Bidhuri told ANI.
He added, "But when I came back to India, there was no news about me and no one came to support me. I myself approached to the chief minister and other ministers, but they said that the state government has no sports policy, so they will work on that.
Citing the example of Budda Aruna Reddy, who won a historic bronze medal in the Gymnastics World Cup, Bidhuri said that the Chief Minister of Telangana announced a cash prize of Rs 2 crore for the Gymnast but he, on the other hand, has received no appreciation from his state government.
"These things are not a part of the state policy. Our chief minister could also have done the same thing," Badhuri said.
"I have got nothing from the state government even after approaching them. I have got no job securities, no rewards.
From the beginning, I have been spending from my pocket. This is very embarrassing and disappointing," the boxer expressed.
The Bantam-Weight boxer said that if players will not be recognised then there will be no motivation for the youngsters to opt sports as career.
"We perform and earn name for our country and in return we just expect recognition. It is very demoralising," he said.
Bidhuri has been out of action since winning a bronze in August last year, due to a back injury. He also failed to make the India squad for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
He had earlier also missed the India Open and the Bulgaria Invitational Tournaments owing to the injury.
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) had selected the CWG boxing contingent on the basis of a points system put in place before the national championships last year and Bidhuri was excluded from the team as he did not have the required points.
Commenting over it, Bidhuri said, "I appreciate the decision [taken by the federation], but in my case I was injured so I could not participate and thus I did not have the required points. I requested the federation to give me chance for trials, saying if you don't find me fit then drop me. "
"In that case they should have given me a chance. But they cited the point system and asked me to completely recover. I respect their decision and accept it," he added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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