As Haryana showers its sports stars with honours, UT remains apathetic

On Tuesday, when Indian national hockey squad member Rajpal Singh was going to a friend’s wedding in Pune, one of his team-mates from Haryana asked the Chandigarh player about accompanying them to Chandigarh on Wednesday for the Haryana Government’s award function for last month’s Asian Games medalists. Singh simply refused and was left wondering what more he needs to do to attract the attention of the Chandigarh Administration. Along with Rajpal, two more players from Chandigarh, namely Dharamveer Singh and Sanam Singh, won medals in the Asian Games while Abhijit Chadha of the city won a silver medal in the Asian Games team golf event. The Administration has, however, not given any thought of rewarding or honouring these players.

“We do not have any expectations from the Chandigarh Administration now. If after so many years of playing at the international level, we still have to ask them about awards or functions, then it’s of no use. After we won the Asia Cup in 2007, the Administration awarded us Rs 1 lakh after more than a year. I have played for Chandigarh for more than 10 years and it hurts to see how they treat us. It has been two months since we got the silver medal in the Commonwealth Games and they have not even called to congratulate us. The Chandigarh Hockey Association should also do something in this regard ,” said Singh, who was the captain of the Indian hockey team which won the silver medal in the Commonwealth Games and bronze medal in the Asian Games.