Hockey India on Friday congratulated the Indian Men’s Hockey Team Midfielder Manpreet Singh and Indian Women’s Hockey Team Goalkeeper Savita for being conferred with the prestigious Arjuna Award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The National Governing Body for Hockey in India also congratulated Clarence Lobo for being awarded the Dronacharya Award (life-time achievement), a due recognition for his contribution to Indian hockey through coaching over the past 25 years. Hockey India also congratulated former India Captain and Goalkeeper Bharat Kumar Chetri for being conferred with the Dhyan Chand award for life-time achievement. Chetri currently works closely with the Indian teams (both men and women) as a Goalkeeping Coach.
“It is a very proud moment for me personally and I owe this to my Coaches over the years, my teammates and my family for their constant support since the very beginning. It is a great feeling when you are recognized for all you hard-work and this serves as a great motivation for me to keep striving for bigger feats and make the country proud. I also would like to congratulate all the other award winners too,” stated Manpreet Singh, the young and charismatic midfielder who is currently based out of the National Camp in Bhubaneswar.
An elated Savita said, “Patience and hard-work always pays off. I am very thankful to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for recognising my hard-work and I would also like to thank Hockey India and my teammates who have been a pillar of support in my career. The Indian Women’s Team has done extremely well over the past two years and this award will only motivate me to work harder and achieve our team goals in this very crucial phase where we will be working on winning a Tokyo Olympics berth.”
Congratulating the award winners, Mohd. Mushtaque Ahmad, Secretary General, Hockey India stated, “On behalf of Hockey India, I would like to congratulate Clarence Lobo for his outstanding contribution to Indian Hockey over the past 25 years. I also congratulate Manpreet Singh and Savita for being conferred with the Arjuna Award. We are always proud of our players and I wish this recognition spurs their performance further. Former India Captain and Goalkeeper Bharat Kumar Chetri has been very forthcoming whenever the sport has needed him to guide youngsters and work with budding goalkeepers closely.”