Haryana women outnumber males in Rio-bound contingent

Despite Haryana having a poor sex ratio, there appears a ray of hope for the North Indian state where female athletes outnumber their male counterparts for the upcoming Rio Olympics, starting August 5.

The state's Sports Minister Anil Vij on Friday disclosed that among the 21 sportspersons, there are 11 women waiting to showcase their prowess in the quadrennial extravaganza in Brazil.

Among the 21, five will participate in athletics events, two are boxers, six wrestlers and the remaining eight are hockey players.

"We hope that sportspersons of Haryana would give outstanding performance and bring laurels to the state and the country," Vij said.

He said the 11 female players from the state who would participate in various competitions include athletes Nirmala Sheoran of Bhiwani in 400 metres and Seema Antil of Sonipat in discus throw, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat of Bhiwani in 48kg weight category, Babita Kumari, also of Bhiwani, in 53kg and Sakshi Malik of Rohtak in 58kg.

Other women are hockey players Savita Punia of Sirsa, Poonam Malik of Hisar, Monika Malik of Sonepat, Rani Rampal and Navjot Kaur of Kurukshetra and Deepika Thakur, the vice-captain, of Yamunanagar.

Among the males, athletes Sandeep Kumar of Mahendragarh will take part in the 50 km walk, Inderjeet Singh of Bhiwani in Shot-put, and Dharmbir Singh of Rohtak in 200 metres, boxers Manoj Kumar of Kaithal in 64kg, and Vikas Krishan Yadav of Gurgaon in 75kg, and wrestlers Yogeshwar Dutt of Sonipat in 65kg, Ravinder Khatri of Jhajjar in 85kg and Hardeep Singh of Jind in 98kg.

Hockey players from the state in the Indian men's hockey team are former captain Sardar Singh of Sirsa and Surender Kumar of Karnal.

--IANS

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