Bajrang Punia threatens to move court if not awarded Khel Ratna

Snubbed for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award- India’s highest sporting honour, a disappointed wrestler Bajrang Punia has decided to meet Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Friday to lodge a formal complaint with the minister.

Bajrang, who had won the gold at the 2018 Asian and Commonwealth Games claimed that he deserves the award more than weightlifter Mirabai Chanu.

“There is points system in place for the award and it is very transparent. Considering my achievements in the last four years, I have better points and truly deserve it,” Bajrang was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times on Thursday.

“I have called on the honourable sports minister and I want to know why my name was not recommended for the Khel Ratna,” added the 24-year-old, who had also clinched the yellow metal at the Asian Championships last year.

The Yogeshwar Dutt protégé further said that if he is not awarded the honour, “then I will move court. That’s the only option I have as I truly believe that I deserve the award because I have better achievements than weightlifter Mirabai Chanu.”

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Chanu was nominated for the award for winning the World Championships in 2017 in the 48kg category making her the first Indian after Karnam Malleswari’s in China, 1995, to win a gold at the competition.

She had also won a gold in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was nominated for his excellence in the cricket field, where he is the top-ranked batsman in both the ODI and Test format. The India skipper amassed 593 runs in the recently concluded Test series in England, where he smashed two centuries and two 50s. Although India lost the series 1-4, Kohli was adjudged the Man of the series by the English team.

The sports ministry officially published the Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awardees on Thursday.

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