Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced a cash incentive of Rs 10 lakh each for the seven para athletes from Odisha who will represent the country in the Asian Para Games at Hangzhou (China) from October 22.
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hampion para shuttler Pramod Bhagat will be spearheading the Odisha contingent. Bhagat, the reigning Paralympic gold-medallist, had won the para badminton mixed singles title and also bronze in men’s doubles in the previous edition of Asian Para Games in Jakarta five years ago.
The other Hangzhou-bound para athletes from Odisha are Jayanti Behera (athletics), Soundarya Kumar Pradhan (visually impaired chess), Rakhal Kumar Sethi, V Ramesh Rao, Prafulla Kumar Khandayatray and Pujaswini Nayak (wheelchair fencing).
“We are immensely proud of our para-athletes who have worked tirelessly to qualify for the prestigious Asian Para Games 2022 in Hangzhou, China. The para-athletes are a testimony to human spirit and determination. I wish the them and the entire India contingent the very best in their endeavour to bring laurels to the country,” Naveen said on Friday.