Haryana to hire foreign coaches for sportspersons

Chandigarh April 20 (IANS) Buoyant over the number of medals won by sportspersons from Haryana in the Commonwealth Games the Haryana government has decided to hire foreign trainers to impart training to sportspersons in the state ahead of Olympics.

Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Vij made the announcement here on Friday. "We will hire foreign coaches to train our sportspersons to perform better at the international level " he said.

Vij said Haryana was the first state to give maximum cash prize and government jobs to sportspersons. He said the medal winning sportspersons at national and international meets would get jobs under the new sports policy.

"A gold medallist in Commonwealth Games would be given cash prize of Rs 1.50 crore and Group-A post a silver medallist would be given Rs 75 lakh and Group-B post and a bronze medallist would get Rs 50 lakh and Group-C post " Vij said.

Players from Haryana many of them women bagged 22 medals in the just ended Commonwealth Games in Australia -- of 66 medals won by Indian players. These included 9 Gold 6 Silver and 7 Bronze medals.

Haryana contributed 38 competitors to the Indian contingent in Australia.

--IANS
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