Ekalavya honour for Vinay, Gagan

 Cricketer R Vinay Kumar and Olympian swimmer Gagan AP were among the 18 sportspersons set to receive the prestigious Ekalavya awards for 2011 to be distributed here on Wednesday.

The list was announced by Youth Services and Sports Minister MP Appachu Ranjan on Monday. Ranjan said, though there was a provision to give Ekalavya award to 15 sportspersons every year, only 12 received the awards last year. In order to make up for the shortcoming of the previous year, the award will be given to 18 sportspersons this year.


National swimming coach Pradeep Kumar, who is also the head coach of the Basavanagudi Aquatic Centre, has been named for the Lifetime achievement award.
“I am extremely happy that I got the recognition for 25 years of my hard work,” said Pradeep Kumar.

Apart from Pradeep, Shyamala Shetty and Chandra Mallappa Kurani will be conferred with the life-time achievement  for their work in weightlifting and cycling respectively.
The Ekalavya award winners will receive Rs two lakh each while the Lifetime achievement awardees will get Rs 1.5 lakh each.

List of awardees: Ekalavya awards: Kashinath Naik (athletics), Kruthika Lakshman (basketball), GA Stany (chess), R Vinay Kumar (cricket), AB Cheeyanna (hockey), Mamatha Poojary (kabaddi), H Neha (powerlifting), Rakesh Manapata (rifle shooting), Prateek Raj (roller skating), Gagan AP (swimming), HS Chandrashouri Devi (weightlifting), Nadia Haridas (equestrian), Sabu Eshwar Ganagera (cycling), N Shwetha (volleyball), CV Rajanna (specially abled, athletics/ badminton), Rajesh Shinde (specially abled, swimming), Roshan Ferrao (bodybuilding), S Naveen (karate).

Lifetime Achievement awards: Shyamala Shetty (weightlifting), CU Ashwath (hockey), Pradeep Kumar (swimming), Chandrappa Mallappa Kurani (cycling).