Tokyo Olympics 2020: Haryana, J'khand governments announce cash rewards for their states' players in India women's hockey team

Chandigarh: The Haryana government will honour the nine history-making Indian women’s hockey team players from the state with a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh each, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday.

An equal amount would also be given to each sportsperson of the state who stood at the fourth position in any event at the Olympics.

Till now there was no provision in the state’s sports policy to reward players finishing in fourth position in various events, the CM said later in the day in Rohtak

“Haryana government will award Rs 50 lakhs each to the nine members of the Olympic women’s hockey team who are from Haryana,” Khattar tweeted.

He congratulated the Indian women’s team for its best-ever performance at the ongoing Olympics, where it finished fourth after losing 3-4 to Great Britain in the bronze medal play-off match in Tokyo on Friday.

The Indians played their hearts out and overcame a two-goal deficit to lead 3-2 at half time. But a desperate Great Britain gave their everything in the second half and scored two goals to snatch the match from India’s hands.

Back in Haryana and Punjab, families of many players remained glued to their television sets to watch in anticipation of an Indian win.

At the end of the game, skipper Rani’s father Rampal told the media at his Shahabad home in Kurukshetra that the Indian team played well and were unlucky to lose out on its maiden Olympic medal.

He said the team’s performance at the Olympics will have a positive impact on the game and will encourage youngsters to take up the sport.

Goalkeeper Savita Punia’s father Mahender Punia said there was no need to feel dejected.

“Match result may not be on their side, but they played really well,” he said.

Neha Goyal’s mother Savitri turned emotional while watching the game.

Notably, most of the women hockey players come from humble backgrounds.

Rs 50 Lakh award for Jharkhand players Salima Tete and Nikki Pradhan

The Jharkhand government will provide Rs 50 lakh each to Hockey players Salima Tete and Nikki Pradhan, hailing from the state, for their stellar performance in the Tokyo Olympics, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said on Friday.

The medal may have proved elusive but the way the Indian women’s hockey team fought against the Great Britain team in the bronze medal match is commendable, Soren said.

The history-making Indian women’s hockey team’s dream of securing its maiden Olympic medal remained unfulfilled as it lost 3-4 to Great Britain in a hard-fought bronze play-off but the stout-hearted side managed to record its best ever finish at the Games in Tokyo Olympics.

“I salute the entire Indian women’s hockey team….For the better performance of the daughters of Jharkhand, the government will modify its earlier decision to give and provide Rs 50 lakh each to Jharkhand’s hockey players,” Soren said.

Salima Tete (19) hails from Badkichapar village in Simdega district and Nikki Pradhan (27) from Hesal village in Khunti were part of the womens hockey team that made history in Tokyo earlier in the day.

The Jharkhand government had declared before the start of the Olympics that Rs two crore would be given to the players of the state for winning gold, Rs one crore for winning silver and Rs 50 lakh for winning bronze.

Soren said though the team could not win bronze but their stellar performance has won hearts and the Jharkhand government will convert players’ ancestral mud houses into pucca houses.

He said both the daughters of Jharkhand made wonderful contributions to the women’s hockey team. Soren said he along with people of Jharkhand expressed gratitude to players and promised to make available all possible facilities for players to hone their skills for future games.

While Britain bounced back to win the match 4-3, Indian team’s efforts in Tokyo were widely applauded for never giving up throughout their game.