LS lauds achievements of Indian sportsmen

New Delhi, Oct 20 (UNI) The Lok Sabha today lauded the achievements of sportspersons who have brought laurels to the country in some recent sports events, including Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Abhinav Bindra.

A statement read out by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee after the Question Hour said the Beijing Olympics 2008 witnessed the historic first ever Gold Medal win by an Indian sportsman in an individual event. Two Indian sportsmen also won individual Bronze medals in their discipline.

Mr Chatterjee said the Beijing Olympics thus bore testimony to the best Indian performance till date at the mega sports event.

The Speaker noted that Bindra won Gold in the men's ten metre Air Rifle shooting and Vijender Kumar and Sushil Kumar won Bronze medals in the men's 75 kg boxing and men's 66 kg freestyle Wrestling events respectively.

The statement said Tendulkar has also made the country proud by becoming the highest run-getter in test cricket. He achieved the "commendable feat" in the ongoing test match against Australia at Mohali, Punjab.

Mr Chatterjee said Ganguly has also achieved a great distinction of being the fourth Indian to score over 7,000 runs in test cricket.

"Our young player Amit Mishra has also achieved great distinction in getting five wickets in his debut test match at Mohali," the statement said.

Mr Chatterjee said the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games at Pune, India has topped the tally with 76 medals, including 33 gold due to the high sporting abilities and all-round spirited performance by the Indian contingent.

"I believe, along with the sportspersons, Mr Kalmadi deserves some congratulations," he said.

The House joined the Speaker in congratulating these sportsmen who brought accolades to the country.

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