After facing criticism from all quarters, the Kerala State Government has finally felicitated the Asian Games medal winners from the state. Top sportspersons from the state including HS Prannoy, PR Sreejesh and Muralui Sreeshankar were rewarded for their medal-winning show at the continental event in a special ceremony organised at Thiruvananthapuram.
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India scripted history at the Asian Games by securing a record tally of 107 medals. Out of those medals, 12 were bagged by the athletes from Kerala. It included four gold medals, six silver and two bronze medals.
Kerala’s Asian Games medal winning Athletes
Out of the medallists, athlete Muhammad Ajmal and Shuttler HS Prannoy are multiple medallists. Ajmal was part of the gold medal winning 4x400m Men’s Relay team. Another athlete from the state Muhammad Anas was also part of the team. Ajmal also bagged silver in 4x400m Mixed Relay.
HS Prannoy bagged the silver medal in the Men’s Team event. Meanwhile he created history by becoming the first Male shuttler from the country to secure a bronze medal in Men’s singles after 41 years.
Indian Hockey Goal-keeper PR Sreejesh and Women’s cricketer Minnu Mani were part of the gold medal winning Men’s Hockey and Women’s Cricket teams respectively. Athletes Murali Sreeshankar, Ancy Sojan Muhammed Afzal and Badminton player MR Arjun won the silver medals in their respective events.
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The criticism on Kerala Government
The government faced criticism earlier by the sportspersons for not doing anything to acknowledge their contributions. Several athletes including Prannoy and Sreejesh slammed the government. Prannoy even expressed that he has left the state due to the lack of rewards and recognition for his performances.
These backlashes faced by the government finally prompted them to conduct this felicitation ceremony. The government gave a cash prize of 25 lakhs each to the gold medal winners. Meanwhile 19 lakhs were given to the silver medal winners and bronze medal winners were awarded 12.5 lakhs each.
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