Ranchi: “You can do it again,” Hockey Jharkhand president Sudesh Mahto told promising Indian hockey goalkeeper Bigan Soy as he gave her away Rs 51,000 as cash prize for her bronze medal-winning feat feat in the Junior World Cup in Germany.
“You can do it again and you all can excel in hockey and bring fame to Jharkhand and India,” the former Deputy Chief Minister said at a felicitation ceremony today.
Soy was a member of the Indian team that created history by winning the country’s first ever bronze medal in the Junior Women’s Hockey World Cup after pipping England 3-2 via penalties on August 4 at Monchengladbach in Germany.
“Any focused person will only think the task at hand, and Bigan Soy did the same in the famous 20 minutes she got to bring glory to Jharkhand and the country,” Mahto said.
With the result tied at 1-1 after 70 minutes of play, India had replaced their regular goalkeeper Ningombam with Soy. In the 20-minute long penalty shootout, Soy saved five attempts from the English women as India won 3-2.
“You (other hockey players) can also do this the moment you overcome fear and hesitation,” Mahto said.
Hockey Jharkhand gave away more than Rs 2.51 lakh to hockey players and coaches for their excellent performances in different age groups at national level tournaments.
Olympians Sylvanus Dungdung and Manohar Topno and former Indian captain and Hockey Jharkhand general secretary Savitri Purti inspired the promising players to work harder and bring home more laurels.
“I am very happy to see the young players making Jharkhand and India proud regularly. Success and hard work are synonymous,” Dungdung, the 1980 Moscow Olympic gold medallist, said at the function.