Tirkey, Coutinho, Laxman
get Arjuna award
India hockey captain Dilip Tirkey, former India football captain Bruno Coutinho and stylish middle order batsman V V S
Laxman have been named in the list of 14 Arjuna award winners
for the year 2001.
The awardees, chosen by a new selection committee headed by
former badminton ace Prakash Padukone, also includes the shooter Samaresh Jung, tennis player Sandeep Kirtane and basketballer Parminder Singh.
The new committee was formed following widespread criticism of the selection procedure for last year's awards.
Michael Ferreira [billiards and snooker] and Sunny Thomas
[shooting] have been conferred the prestigious Dronacharya award for outstanding performances as coaches, for the year 2001.
The awards will be presented by the President of India at
a function on August 29.
The list:
Arjuna award: Parminder Singh (basketball), Devendra Joshi
(billiards and snooker), V V S Laxman (cricket), Bruno
Coutinho (football), Dilip Tirkey (hockey-men), Sita Gossain (hockey-women), B C Ramesh (kabaddi), Kasam Khan (rowing),
Samaresh Jung (shooting), Sandeep Kirtane (tennis), Amir Singh
(volleyball), Ramesh Kumar (wrestling), Lt Cdr R Mahesh
(Yachting), K R Shankar Iyer (athletics and cricket - disabled).
Dronacharya award: Michael Ferreira (billiards and
snookers), Sunny Thomas (shooting).
Laxman's epic 281 in the second Test against Australia,
which helped India pull off an incredible come-from-behind
victory to level the series 1-1 in Kolkata, has been given due recognition, while seasoned Goan striker Coutinho has been rewarded for consistent performances on the football circuit for several years.
Tirkey is currently leading the Indian hockey team and was also a member of the gold-winning Bangkok Asian Games squad.
Devendra Joshi, one of the top billiards players of the country, also found favour with the selection panel for his consistent showing on the green baize.
Former women's hockey captain Sita Gossain played a key role in the team's gold-winning effort in the recent Commonwealth Games in Manchester, while the experienced Parminder Singh has been awarded for his outstanding peformance in basketball for the last few years.
The selection committee for the Dronacharya award, headed by 1975 hockey World Cup-winning captain Ajit Pal Singh, recommended the names of Michael Ferreira and Sunny Thomas for the coach's honour and the Ministry of Youth Affiars and Sports had not hesitation in accepting the nominations.
Former world champion Ferreira currently coaches the Indian billiards and snooker teams while Thomas was the coach of the shooting team which excelled at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
