On Saturday, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur refrained from entering the heated controversy surrounding wrestler Bajrang Punia’s decision to return his Padma Shri in protest against the election of Brij Bhushan Loyalis Sanjay Singh as the President after the WFI Elections.
“I have already spoken enough. No more comments,” said Thakur here at the SAI centre on the sidelines of a function to honour eminent athletes and Asian Games medal winners.
While, Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from wrestling, Bajrang Punia symbolically placed his Padma Shri on the Kartavya Path. However, Thakur expressed his desire for accomplished wrestlers like Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia to contribute to coaching future generations.
Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia, who had visited Kartavya Path in New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and submit a protest letter, left the Padma Shri medallion on a footpath due to police intervention.
Despite the ongoing controversy, Minister Thakur urged former champions to step forward and play a role in nurturing emerging athletes to excel in international competitions. He emphasized the need to highlight success stories, citing the recent achievement of winning over 100 medals in both the Asian Games and Asian Para Games in Hangzhou.
“Our athletes won over 100 medals both in the Asian Games (in Hangzhou) and in the Asian Para Games. These stories need to be highlighted,” Thakur said.
Thakur recounted asking the athletes before they departed for the Asian Games whether they could surpass the 100-medal mark. Their collective confidence translated into success, prompting the minister to call on former champions to share their knowledge and experience with upcoming athletes.
“Before they departed (for Asian Games) I had asked them whether they would be able to breach the 100-medal mark and they expressed collective confidence, and they did it too.” The Minister then asked the former champions to pitch in to sustain the success in future competitions.
Reflecting on recent victories in events like the Thomas Cup and successes in hockey and athletics, Thakur urged champions to contribute to the sustained improvement of Indian sports on the global stage.
“We have won several major events. We won the first Thomas Cup last year and we also saw a lot of success in hockey, athletics and other events. Now, the champions should ensure that they pass the knowledge and experience to the upcoming athletes so that we can better this effort in future.” he concluded.
