Chandigarh, July 11

Punjab Sports Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi today backed state’s athletes to bag laurels for the country at the Tokyo Olympics. Punjab is sending second largest contingent of athletes to the Games.

Extending warm wishes to the Olympics-bound players, Sodhi said: “India is sending 117-member contingent to the Olympics, out of which 14 per cent players belong to Punjab. As we are sending second largest contingent after Haryana, the players from Punjab will be able to win at least three or four Olympic medals.”

The minister also assured all the support to the athletes. “We will take care of their financial and logistics,” he said.

Punjab’s contingent includes Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinderpal Singh, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh and Gurjit Kaur (all hockey players), Anjum Maudgill and Angad Veer Singh (shooting), Simranjit Kaur (boxing), Kamalpreet Kaur, Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Gurpreet Singh (athletics).

“It’s a proud moment for the Punjab as it got captaincy in the Olympics after 21 years. Manpreet Singh, DSP, Punjab Police, will lead Indian hockey team as captain in the Tokyo Olympics. He will also be a flag bearer of the Indian contingent,” said the minister.

With a bottom-up approach, Sodhi highlighted that efforts were being made to create a sporting culture in Punjab through national programs like Khelo India and Fit India movement, besides injecting measures for grass-roots level motivation. — TNS