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Ferozepur to China town, medals all the way
Players from district do country proud, win 7 medals
Chander Parkash/TNS

Ferozepur, November 22
With development eluding it ever since the Partition, the border district of Ferozepur, which suffered devastation during the Indo-Pak war and then the Kargil conflict, has created a history of sorts in the ongoing 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou. A total of seven medals have been put in India’s kitty by sportspersons belonging to the district.

Ferozepur has perhaps become the country’s only district, whose each and every player participating in the current edition of the Games, has succeeded in fetching a medal for the country.

If we go by statistics, out of 36 medals won by India so far, nearly 20 per cent have been won by the sportspersons from this district, which is devoid of even basic amenities, forget sports infrastructure. Also, a large section of the populace here belongs to the below poverty line (BPL) category.

While Ronjan Sodhi, ranked No three in the world, brought laurels to the country by winning gold medal in double trap (shot gun) event yesterday, Ranjit Singh, a resident of Basti Kishan Singh Wala village and Manjeet Singh of Isa Panj Garai village of the district, have done the country proud by winning two silver medals each in light weight men’s four, men’s four and men‘s eight rowing competitions.

The other shooter, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, belonging to Ratta Khera village of district, won bronze medal in team event of trap shooting. Ronjan also won a bronze in the team event of double trap (short gun) event.

Much significance is being attached to this rare achievement of players of this district at international arena by sports enthusiasts because of the fact that the successive state governments have miserably failed to create required sports infrastructure in the district, where once hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand was posted during his stint in the Army.

These sportspersons have done so well without any support from the Punjab government or any of its agencies, says Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, MLA, former international shooter and chief whip of the Congress in Punjab Vidhan Sabha. “It was right time for the SAD-BJP government to fulfil its promise of setting up a mega sports complex in this border city to honour the achievement of these sportspersons,” he added.

A cross-section of sportspersons said the Punjab government must develop nurseries of hockey, shooting and other games in the district. Ferozepur was earlier known for producing international hockey players. A number of hockey gold medallists in Olympics belong to this town.

The medallists

Ronjan Sodhi Gold (shooting)

Bronze (double trap)

Ranjit Singh 2 Silver (rowing)

Manjeet Singh 2 Silver (rowing)

Manavjit Sandhu Bronze (trap shooting)

Contribution of the district, which is devoid of basic amenities and sports infrastructure and where a large section of the populace lives below poverty line (BPL) section, has been sizeable.