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Abhinav Bindra

 

Badal gives Rs. 1 crore to Abhinav Bindra
PUNJAB GOVERNMENT TO SOON ANNOUNCE ITS SPORTS POLICY-CM

 
Abhinav Bindra of India during his medal winning performance in the Men's 10m Air Rifle shooting Photo: AFP / GETTY

Chandigarh August 18, 2008

Punjab Government would soon announce its sports policy within an inbuilt feature to provide excellent infrastructure and training to the young players in order to compete at the International Sports events like Olympics, Asian Games and Common Wealth Games.

An announcement to this effect was made by the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal while presiding over a felicitation function organized by the sports department to honour Mr. Abhinav Bindra who won the first ever individual gold medal in 10 meter rifle shooting range in Beijing Olympics 2008.

Mr. Badal also presented a draft of Rs.1 crore to Mr. Bindra for this historic achievement that made both Punjab and India proud. He urged Abhinav Bindra to further utilize his talent in training the budding players of Punjab in the rifle shooting so that they could also win gold medals like him for our country.

Mr. Badal lamented that India was lagging behind in the Olympics medal tally as several countries had even won 15-17 gold medals whereas our country was only restricted to a single gold till today. He assured that the Punjab government would make all out efforts to promote sports in a big way so that Punjab could once again regain its lost pristine glory in the arena of sports.

Meanwhile Sports and Youth Affairs Minister S. Gulzar Singh Ranike proposed a vote of thanks on the occasion and assured that the state government would lay special emphasis on the training aspect of the budding players to enable them to compete globally and Punjab would be developed as a nursery of young players.

Earlier in his welcome address Principal Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Mr. R.P.S. Pawar said that the state's sports department had chalked out an ambitious programme to promote our traditional sport Hockey as a major thrust in the proposed sports policy.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by his Media Advisor Mr Harcharn Bains and Principal Secretary Mr. D.S. Guru.

Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included Local Government Minister Mr. Manoranajan Kalia, Co-operation Minister Capt. Kanwaljit Singh, Tansport Minister Master Mohan Lal, Rural Development Minister S. Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Tourism Minister Hira Singh Gabaria and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mohinder Kaur Josh besides the Member Parliament and President Punjab Olympic Association Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Member Parliament Smt. Paramjit Singh. Eminent dignitaries in the field of sports like Olympian Balbir Singh, flying sikh Milkha Singh and Director Sports Pargat Singh besides the top brass of serving and retired civil and police personnel.





Punjab's Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal
in the Men's 10m Air Rifle in Beijing on August 11, 2008

Punjab Government give an award of Rs.1 crore to Abhinav Bindra
Abhinav Bindra comes from an affluent Sikh family, belonging to the Punjabi Khatri

BADAL CONGRATULATES BINDRA FOR HISTORIC VICTORY IN OLYMPICS
Sukhbir, Majithia Also Joins Chief Minister in Felicitating Bindra

CHANDIGARH AUGUST 11, 2008

Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today felicitated the ace shooter Mr. Abhinav Bindra on winning Olympic Gold Medal and bringing glory to the entire nation.

 

In a message, the Chief Minister said that Bindra's achievement in 10-Meters Air Rifle shooting segment would give a major boost to Indian sport. "We in Punjab, are proud of Abhinav Bindra's remarkable feat", said Mr. Badal. The Chief Minister said that the Punjab Government would honour him on his return from Beijing and would also give an award of Rs.1 crore as per state government's sports policy. Mr. Badal hoped that Mr. Bindra after winning this title in Olympics would surely become a role model for the budding players of our country to promote sports at international fora. The Chief Minister also called up Dr.AS Bindra father of the Olympian gold medalist Abhinav Bindra and other family members for his superb achievement.

Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra of India shows his medal as he stands with silver medalist Zhu Qinan of China and bronze medalist Henri Hakkinen of Finland on the podium at the Beijing Olympic Games on August 11, 2008. (Reuters Photo)

Abhinav Bindra won India's first ever individual Olympic gold medal on Monday, saying it was a reward for "punching holes in a paper target" all his life.

He followed his world championship title of two years ago by grabbing the men's 10m Air Rifle shooting gold medal.

Athens Games champion Zhu Qinan of China won the silver and Henri Hakkinen of Finland the bronze after one of the most thrilling shooting finals in Olympic history.

Bindra, who trailed by two points after the qualification round, trumped his rivals in the 10-shot final as he went into the last shot level with Hakkinen on 689.7 points.

While Bindra secured his best score of 10.8 in the deciding shot, Hakkinen managed only 9.7 to concede the silver to Zhu, whose last shot was 10.5.

"It's the best feeling of my life," said an elated Bindra.

"I was just trying to concentrate on shooting, I was not thinking about making history.

"For me life will go on. All my life I have just been punching holes in a blank piece of paper target.

"But I sincerely hope this win will change the face of Olympic sport in India. In our country, Olympic sports are not really a priority, I hope now they will get more attention."

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Meanwhile, Member Parliament and SAD President Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal also lauded Abhinav Bindra's achievement and said that the first ever Olympic Gold medal in an individual event would go a long way in putting sports persons on a high pedestal

Punjab Information and Public Relations Minister Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia also joined the Chief Minister and other dignitaries in congratulating the youngster Punjabi shooter who had done both India and Punjab proud

 

 

 

 

Abhinav Bindra


Abhinav Bindra of India during his medal winning performance in the Men's 10m Air Rifle shooting Photo: AFP / GETTY

Abhinav Bindra is an Indian shooter from Zirakpur, in Mohali district, (near Chandigarh), Punjab and is the current World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event. He became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games and the first gold medal since 1980 for India by winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Bindra booked his place in the 2008 Olympics by winning the gold medal at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships with a score of 699.1
Abhinav Bindra comes from an affluent Sikh family, belonging to the Punjabi Khatri clan[citation needed]. His parents are Dr A S Bindra and Babli Bindra
He studied at the Doon School, Dehradun till the 10th standard and then left for St. Stephens School, Chandigarh to pursue shooting .

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Achievements:
Made a junior world record score of 597/600 in 2001 Munich World Cup and won bronze; gold in 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games; became the first Indian shooter to win a World Championship gold; Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2001.
Abhinav Bindra is the brightest star among a new breed of talented Indian shooters. Born on September 28, 1983, Bindra is quite often criticized for not delivering on the promise he showed as a child prodigy.
Coming from an affluent family and with the luxury of an indoor range in his backyard, Bindra proved to an early bird and, at 15, was the youngest participant at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Bindra shot into limelight by winning a bronze in the 2001 Munich World Cup with a new junior world record score of 597/600.
In the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, competing in his pet Air rifle event, Bindra won Gold in the Pairs event and Silver in the individual event. During a purple patch, Bindra won six gold medals at various international meets in the European Circuit in 2001. He was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 2001.
In the 2004 Athens Olympics, despite breaking the Olympic record Bindra failed to win a medal. But on July 24, 2006, Bindra became the first Indian shooter to win a World Championship gold in Zagreb. Dr. Karni Singh's silver in 1962 was the previous best by an Indian in a World Championship meet.