Woman Hockey player Lilima Minz, who hails from Odisha, was on Sunday honoured with the prestigious Ekalabya Puraskar, 2018.
The annual award, comprising a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh along with a citation, was presented by former cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar at the Ekalabya Award function here.
Lilima Minz represented the Indian senior team for the first time in 2011 during a four-nation tournament in Argentina.
She was part of the squad that represented the country in the 2016 summer Olympics and member of the Indian team that won the gold medal Womens Hockey Asia Cup after a gap of 13 years in Japan on November 5, 2017.
Besides Minz, weight lifter Jhili Dalabehera and Rutuparna Panda were felicitated for their remarkable performances in their respective fields.
They received a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each along with citations.
The Ekalabya Puraskar has been instituted by IMPaCT, the social wing of the Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys, which has been promoting literature, sports, the arts, culture and other socially meaningful activities in the state for decades.
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