Telangana CM felicitates CWG medal winners Nehwal, Sindhu, Srikanth and others

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday felicitated 2018 Commonwealth Games medallists Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu among others here at Pragathi Bhavan on Saturday.

On the last day of the Games, ace Indian shuttler Nehwal defeated her compatriot Sindhu by straight games 21-18, 23-21 in a high-octane clash to grab gold medal in the all-Indian finals to clinch gold in the badminton competition.

As a result, Sindhu had to settle with a silver medal.

It should be noted that Nehwal had also guided the star-studded Indian badminton team to their maiden gold in the mixed-team event of the prestigious multi-sport Games.

Along with Saina and Sindhu, the Chief Minister also met and greeted 16 other Indian winners who participated in the recently-concluded quadrennial games at Gold Coast, Australia.

These athletes belong to Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Rao not only felicitated each and every participant with a bouquet and shawl but also complimented them for their achievements in the Games and bringing laurels to the country.

The other athletes who met and felicitated by the chief minister include Srikanth Kidambi (Badminton), Rankireddy Satwik Sairaj (Badminton), N Sikkireddy (Badminton), G Ruthvika Shivani (Badminton), Hasamuddin Mohammed (Boxing), Aruna Budda Reddy (Gymnastics), Meghana Gundlapally (Gymnastics), Kynan Darius Cheni (Shooting), Gagan Narang (Shooting), HSK Prannoy (Badminton), Pranav Chopra (Badminton), Chirag Shetty (Badminton), Ashwini Ponnappa (Badminton), Sharath Kamal Achanta (Table Tennis) and Ragala Venkat Rahul (Weight Lifting).

The meeting was followed by the Chief Minister announcing two percent reservation in state government jobs for sportspersons.

India ended their campaign at the Commonwealth Games with a medal haul of 66, including 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze on April 15.