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Uttar Pradesh shares nation’s joy as India end hockey Olympic medal drought, bag bronze
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath congratulates Manpreet Singh-led team, UP Sports Directorate announces ₹1 crore purse for midfielder Lalit Upadhyay from Varanasi
An air of festivity was palpable as Uttar Pradesh shared the nation’s joy on India ending its medal drought in hockey after 41 years at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated the Manpreet Singh-led men’s hockey team on winning bronze and Uttar Pradesh Sports Directorate announced a ₹1 crore purse for the team’s midfielder Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, who hails from Varanasi. “Today, the Indian men’s hockey team won the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics with a historic performance. Today’s success has added a golden chapter in the history of Indian Hockey. The whole nation is proud of this unforgettable achievement of Team India,” Yogi Adityanath tweeted soon after India’s thrilling 5-4 win against Germany at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo.
While announcing ₹1 crore for Lalit on behalf of the state government, UP’s director sports RP Singh said the prize was according to the government’s scheme for such achievements.
“It’s a historic win and we were all waiting this to happen since 1980 when India won a gold medal in hockey at the Moscow Olympics,” he said.
“The government has already announced ₹12 lakh for all 10 Uttar Pradesh athletes who have gone to represent India at the Summer Olympics. If anyone wins gold, silver or bronze in an individual event, he or she will get ₹6 crore, ₹4 crore and ₹2 crore respectively,” he added. Hockey Olympians like Devesh Chauhan, Rahul Singh, Sujit Kumar, Ali Saeed, Danish Mujtaba, Shakeel Ahmed Khan, Syed Ali Zafar Iqbal, Mohinder Pal Singh, Jagbir Singh and other hockey greats like Rajneesh Mishra, Arf Mohd Khan, Sanjay Bisht and Atif Idrish also praised the team. Zafar Iqbal, a key member of India’s last Olympic gold medal winning team in the 1980 Moscow Games, said he had his heart in his mouth in the final few minutes of the match when Germany were attacking in search of the equaliser.
“History has been made. We have broken the jinx. It’s a miracle. It’s going to have a big impact on the game. It will revive the sport in the country. It’s a new beginning, a new dawn,” he said.
“Since my childhood, I have been hearing that India won gold medals at the Olympics eight times, but never got to see such an occasion in my lifetime. But today, it’s like a dream come true and now I can say that I have seen India winning medals at the Olympics,” former Indian hockey captain Rajneesh Mishra said. Former Junior India star Vijay Singh, senior coach SK Lahiri, Kanpur Hockey secretary TP Singh and UP Olympic Association secretary Anandeshwar Pandey too admired India’s podium finish at the Games. “I watched the match and I can feel the joy that comes when your country wins after 40 years,” Pandey said over the phone from Tokyo.
