Chandigarh, March 31: Punjab Sports, Youth Services and NRI Affairs Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, on Wednesday, called on Tokyo Olympics qualifier and national record holder Kamalpreet Kaur at his residence here and handed over Rs 10 lakh cheque to the athlete.

During a meeting with Kamalpreet and her coach Rakhi Tyagi, Rana Sodhi congratulated the discus thrower for easily achieving the 63.50-meter mark for qualifying for the Olympics and also discussed her future endeavours in detail.

Portraying Kamalpreet as the 'honoured daughter of Punjab', the Sports Minister said, it was a matter of pride for the state and the country as well that Kamalpreet won the first place in the country by breaking the decade-old record in discus throw and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in women's discus throw category.

The Sports Minister said, as a sportsperson himself, Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh was always kind towards the sportspersons. Thus, he introduced a new pro-sportspersons policy after coming into power in 2017, which paves the way for outstanding sportspersons for increased cash prizes and ensuring government jobs. 30 Athletes Test Positive for COVID-19 at NIS, SAI; No Olympic Bound Sportsperson Affected.

Rana Sodhi expressed hope that Kamalpreet would bring laurels for the state and country by clinching a gold in the Tokyo Olympics, saying that all kinds of Olympics preparation cost of Kamalpreet Kaur would be borne by the state government.

Pertinent to mention here that Kamalpreet during her first attempt on the last day of Federation Cup National Athletics in the month of March at Patiala, managed to throw the discus 65.06 meters and became the first Indian thrower to cross the 65-meter mark and ensured her berth in the Tokyo Olympic. Kamalpreet broke the national record set by Commonwealth Games champion Krishna Poonia in 2012 with a throw of 64.76 meters.

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