KOA awards on Monday

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Olympics Association (KOA) announced on Saturday that the 15th KOA Awards will be held at the Yavanika state youth centre on Monday. The annual awards function will see sports personalities being recognised from various disciplines. Chief Minister of Karnataka, S Siddaramaiah will be the Chief Guest of the event.

The limlight will fall on rising golfer S Chikkarangappa. The 23-year-old golfer who started off as a caddy rose to fame over the years, and was the youngest to win the ‘India Amateurs Championship,’ at the age of 16. Chikka also represented at the Golf World Cup along with SSP Chawrasia in November.

Moreover, golf, was included in the list of sports for the KOA awards for the first time this year. Though young golfer Aditi Ashok, who has had an exceptional year, would have been a strong contender, Chikka made the cut eventually.
Talking about the awards, K. Govindraj, President of KOA felt that the awards were a way of providing support and encouragement to talented sportspersons.
The awardees were chosen by a selection panel comprising of Arjuna awardees and former Olympians. M. Mohan Raj, Vice President of KOA, AB Subbaiah, former India hockey player, Kenneth Powell, former athlete and G. Dilip, former India basket ball player, formed the committee.

The awardees will receive a cash award of Rs. 50, 000 each and Govindraj stated that the cash prize would be doubled next year. While there would be no lifetime achievement award this time, veteran sportspersons would be honoured and rewarded a cash prize of Rs. 10, 000.