Snooker champion Chitra were recommended for the prestigious awards by the BSFI
Chitra Magimairaj
New Delhi: Disappointed at the exclusion of Sourav Kothari and Chitra Magimairaj from the Arjuna Awards list, the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India on Wednesday urged the sports ministry to reconsider the two names in order to give the cue sport stars their due.
Kothari, 2014 Asian billiards champion, and two-time world ladies billiards and snooker champion Chitra were recommended for the prestigious awards by the BSFI, but reports suggest that the duo have missed out on the honour.
“It is indeed unfortunate that our sport has been treated so shabbily and I hope that some corrective action is taken by the ministry for the mistake,” wrote BSFI secretary S. Balasubramaniam in a letter.
“It is a proud and happy day for all the cue sport fans in India with Pankaj Advani retaining his world 6-red snooker title. This is a very difficult task... Vidya Pillai also performed very well but had to be satisfied with the silver medal.
“She has been a consistent performer but sadly inspite of her performances and those that of Sourav Kothari and Chitra Magimairaj, not even one of them was nominated by the ministry,” the letter added.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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