Uthappa, Jyothi among Ekalavya awardees

The 15 sportspersons, as well as MS Madegowda and PS Vishwanath, who have been conferred with Life-time achievement awards, will receive their awards from Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda at the Banquet Hall in Vidhana Soudha on Monday (August 29), said a release from the Youth Services Department.

Swimmer Shubha Chittaranjan, a top performer for Karnataka in National-level competitions and the holder of the 50M butterfly national record, said, “I am extremely happy that my hard work has paid off. It’s one of the top State awards and to receive that will mean a lot of joy. This will help me perform better in future.”

Expressing similar emotions, State volleyball team universal TD Ravikumar, said: “I got the news from the Department of Youth Services and Sports and from the Karnataka Volleyball Association this evening, and I’m very, very happy,” said Ravikumar.

“Normally, it’s hard for players like us to get selected for such prestigious awards. It’s an honour and I would like to thank everyone connected with volleyball for this honour,” the Karnataka Bulls skipper added. The awardees will get a cash award of Rs one lakh, up from Rs 50,000 until last year.

List of awardees: HM Jyothi (athletics); Roshan Ferrao (bodybuilding); Viani Antonio D’Cunha (chess); Robin Uthappa (cricket); Amoolya Kamal (football); Jeeva Kumar S (kabaddi); Naveen S (karate); Santhosh CR (kho-kho); Poojashree Venkatesha (tennis); Nethravathi V (powerlifting), Sharanya Mahesh (roller skating); Shubha Chittaranjan (swimming); TD Ravikumar (volleyball); CPR Sudhir Kumar (weightlifting); P Somashekar (specially abled athletics). Life-time achievement: MS Madegowda, PS Vishwanath.