S S Pannu (athletics), C A Kuttappa (boxing), Vijay Sharma (weightlifting) and A Srinivasa Rao (table tennis) were the others recommended for Dronacharya award. (Source: Express File)
National compound archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja on Wednesday reacted with shock after his name was removed from the list of coaches recommended for Dronacharya award, calling the move as “gross injustice”.
Teja had travelled to Jakarta for Asian Games with the national compound team as head coach.
“There was a case of indiscipline against him and a ban was imposed on him by national federation AAI. So, his name has been removed from the list. A case of indiscipline against a coach is something we can’t ignore,” a ministry source told PTI.
Teja said he had been wronged in this case since he was not at fault for the incident for which he was punished.
“This is gross injustice. I will knock the doors of the Prime Minister and the President and will also go to court ,” Teja told PTI reacting to the development .
In 2015, Teja had travelled with the Indian team as chief coach for the World University Games.
The team, which was not sent by the government, had missed out on the bronze medal match due to change in timing, of which none of the archery contingent members was aware.
The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) too had slapped a three year ban on him while AAI had imposed a one-year ban.
“The AIU had reduced the ban to one and a half years because they also found out that I was not a fault. It was not deliberate and was an unfortunate incident. The chef de mission knew about the change in timings but he did not inform us. It was not even an event sanctioned by the government and I had gone by spending from my own pocket.
“And I had also completed the one-year ban of AAI. When I have completed the punishment, will that incident be dragged till my life? If I am wrong why I was sent to Asian Games as India coach ? What about my achievements after 2015, will they not be considered? This is really disheartening ,” Teja fumed.
“There are a few people who are out there who want to harm my reputation. Ask the archers who have trained with me. Ask what impact I had made on their training methods. Let there be a probe to find out if I have been wronged in this case,” Teja, who is a national coach since 2015, said.
Top archer Abhishek Verma too expressed his disappointment at the ministry’s move.
“Dear sir, shocked that top archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja is being punished for no fault of his. The man who has scripted the success of Indian archery. Justice for Dronacharya. At least,” tweeted Verma.
S S Pannu (athletics), C A Kuttappa (boxing), Vijay Sharma (weightlifting) and A Srinivasa Rao (table tennis) were the others recommended for Dronacharya award.
The Dronacharya is presented to coaches for their outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis over a period of four years. It carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.
Clarence Lobo (hockey), Tarak Sinha (cricket), Jiwan Kumar Sharma (judo) and V R Beedu (athletics) were recommended for Dronacharya award in the Life Time category. Satyadev Prasad (archery), Bharat Chhetri (hockey), Bobby Aloysius and Chougale Dadu Dattatray (wrestling) were named for Dhyan Chand award which is bestowed on athletes for life-time achievements and contribution to sport during their active career and post retirement.
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were jointly recommended for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, while star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was among 20 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna awards.
Besides Chopra, other prominent names recommended for Arjuna were junior world champion sprinter Hima Das and Asian Games gold-medallist middle distance runner Jinson Johnson, cricketer Smriti Mandhana, hockey players Manpreet Singh and Savita Punia, multiple Commonwealth Games gold-medallist table tennis star Manika Batra and Asiad doubles gold-medallist tennis player Rohan Bopanna.
The Khel Ratna awardees are entitled to a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh, while the Arjuna winners are given Rs 5 lakh.
President Ram Nath Kovind will present the awards on September 25 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on September 25.
This year’s award ceremony was postponed to September 25 from the usual August 29 National Sports Day event due to clash of dates with the Asian Games in Indonesia.