I'm sure we will achieve this target: Kovind on India finishing in top ten in 2028 Olympics

New Delhi [India], Aug 29 (ANI): "I am sure we will achieve this target," said President Ram Nath Kovind while talking about India's chances of finishing in the top ten of the medal tally in the 2028 Olympics which will be held in the USA.
The President's remarks came during the first-ever virtual presentation of National Sports Awards.
The Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has also been vocal for converting India into a sporting powerhouse and he has repeatedly said that the aim of the country's athletes should be to finish among top ten countries in terms of medals in the 2028 Olympics.
During the ceremony, President Kovind said that India would eventually emerge as a great power in the sports.
Talking about India finishing in the top ten of the medal tally in the 2028 Olympics, President Kovind said: "I am sure we will achieve this target."
All sport has been hampered by the coronavirus pandemic this year, but Kovind was pleased to see players and coaches being connected through online coaching and webinars to overcome this challenge.
Earlier today, for the first time in the history of the National Sports Awards, President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday virtually conferred the National Sports and Adventure Award 2020.
Kovind presented Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, Dhyan Chand Award, Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar.
A record 74 athletes of the country were honoured on hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand's 115th birth anniversary.
Speaking on the occasion, Kovind said, "Due to Covid-19, the sports world has been impacted. However, the Sports Ministry and other institutes have also maintained contact with the coaches and players. Sports and sportspersons will strengthen the spirit of solidarity among our countrymen."
While paying tributes to Major Dhyanchand, the President said, he is a role model for sportsperson as well as all other countrymen.
Table Tennis star Manika Batra was presented with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest sports honour in the country. Apart from Manika, cricketer Rohit Sharma, Mariyappan T. (Para-Athletics), Vinesh (Wrestling) and Rani (Hockey) were also conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Twenty-seven sportspersons were honoured with the Arjuna Award, during the ceremony.
They were Atanu Das (archery), Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty (badminton), Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (basketball), Subedar Manish Kaushik and Lovlina Bograhain (boxing), Deepti Sharma (cricket), Sawant Ajay Anant (Equestrian), Sandesh Jhingan (football), Aditi Ashok (golf), Akashdeep Singh and Deepika (hockey), Deepak (kabaddi), Kale Sarika Sudhakar (kho kho), Dattu Baban Bhokanal (rowing), and Saurabh Chaudhary (Shooting), Madhurika Suhas Patkar (table tennis), Divij Sharan (Tennis), Divya Kakran and Rahul Aware (Wresting), Shiva Keshavan (Winter Sports), Suyash Narayan Jadhav (Para-Swimming), Sandeep (Para-Athletics) and Manish Narwal (Para shooting), Shutler Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy, cricketer Ishant Sharma and shooter Manu Bhaker.
The awardees attended the ceremony from Sports Authority of India (SAI) and National Informatics Centre (NIC) centres in various places across the country - Bengaluru, Pune, Sonepat, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal, Hyderabad and Itanagar.
While Indian women's hockey team skipper Rani Rampal, Table Tennis player Manika attended the ceremony, Vinesh Phogat missed out as she tested positive for coronavirus one day prior to the ceremony. Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma too missed the ceremony due to IPL 2020 commitments.
The prize money for Arjuna Award and Khel Ratna Award has been increased to Rs 15 lakhs and Rs 25 lakhs, respectively.
Also, Dharmendra Tiwary (archery), Purushotham Rai (athletics), Shiv Singh (boxing), Romesh Pathania (hockey), Krishan Kumar Hooda (kabaddi), Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar (para powerlifting), Naresh Kumar (tennis), and Om Parkash Dahiya (wrestling) received Dronacharya Lifetime award.
Yogesh Malviya (Mallakhamb), Jaspal Rana (Shooting), Jude Felix Sebastian (Hockey) Kuldeep Kumar Handoo (Wushu), and Gaurav Khanna (Para Badminton) were conferred with Dronacharya Award in the regular category.
The winners of Dhyan Chand Award winner include -- Kuldip Singh Bhullar (Athletics), Jincy Philips (Athletics), Pradeep Shrikrishna Gandhe (Badminton), Trupti Murgunde (Badminton), N Usha(Boxing), Lakha Singh (Boxing), Sukhvinder Singh Sandhu (Football), Ajit Singh (Hockey), Manpreet Singh (Kabaddi), J Ranjith Kumar (Para-Athletics), Satyaprakash Tiwari (Para Badminton), Manjeet Singh (Rowing), Late Shri Sachin Nag (Swimming), Nandan P Bal (Tennis), Netarpal Hooda (Wrestling).
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards winners: Anita Devi (Land Adventure), Col Sarfraz Singh (Land Adventure), Taka Tamut (Land Adventure), Narender Singh (Land Adventure), Keval Hiren Kakka (Land Adventure), Satendra Singh (Water Adventure), Gajanand Yadava (Air Adventure) and Late Magan Bissa (Life Time Achievement).
(ANI)