Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India]: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has felicitated the Para badminton players who won the medals at the recent Tokyo Paralympics and congratulated them on their spectacular performance in Tokyo. According to a statement by the Chief Minister’s Office on Friday, during the event, Patnaik felicitated Deepa Malik (President Paralympic Committee of India), Prabhakar Rao (Chairman, Para-badminton India), Gaurav Khanna – Head Coach, Para-Badminton Indian team, Shiba Prasad Das – Head Coach, Odisha Para badminton, Pramod Bhagat – Tokyo Paralympics Gold medallist, Krishna Nagar – Tokyo Paralympics Gold medallist, Manoj Sarkar – Tokyo Paralympics Bronze medallist, Tarun Dhillion – Paralympian, Parul Parmar – Paralympian, Palak Kholi – Paralympian, Rajkumar – Arjuna Awardee. Ms Deepa Malik thanked Chief Minister for his initiatives for the development of sports in the country. She lauded Odisha as a model for sports development and for the support of the state towards the sportspersons and para-sportspersons. Bhubaneswar is hosting the 4th National Para-badminton championships from December 24 to 26, 2021. More than 400 para-badminton players from across the country are participating in this event, which is the largest so far in this field. “Deepa Malik and the Paralympians praised the government and the State association for making good arrangements for the comfort of the para-badminton players,” said the statement. The Chief Minister assured all support for the para-sports events and to the para-sportspersons. He extended his best wishes to all the participants in the ongoing championship.
