ONGC felicitates Asian Games medal winners with cash awards

Eighteen Incheon Asian Games medal winners, including members of gold-winning Indian hockey, squash and women's relay teams, were today felicitated by their employers Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited for bringing laurels to the country in the multi-sporting event.
Among those who were felicitated with cash awards at a function here included M R Poovamma and Mandeep Kaur (both women's 4x400m relay), Kush Kumar (men's squash) and hockey player Gurwinder Singh Chandi.
Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, the other member of the gold-winning squash team, and hockey player Akashdeep Singh could not turn up.
Athletes belonging to ONGC bagged 13 medals (4 gold, one silver and eight bronze) out of 57 India had won in Incheon. Overall, 40 athletes from ONGC took part in the Asian Games.

The gold winners Sandhu and Kush, relay runner Mandeep, kabaddi players Navneet Gautam, Praveen Kumar and Jasveer Singh, hockey players Akashdeep and Chandi were awarded Rs 2.5 lakh each. Poovamma, who also won a bronze in individual 400m race, besides the relay gold, got Rs 4.5 lakh.
Silver medal winner in the women's 20km race walk event Khushbir Kaur was handed a cheque of Rs 3 lakh, while double bronze winner tennis player Yuki Bhambri, who also could not turn up, was awarded Rs 3.5 lakh.
Shweta Chaudhary, bronze medallist in the individual 10m air pistol event, received Rs 2 lakh. Double trap team bronze medal winner Shagun Chaudhary and Varsha Varman, Heena Sidhu (25m air pistol), Jyothi Surekha Vennam were awarded Rs 1.33 lakh each, while team bronze medal winning shuttlers Ashwini Ponnappa and P C Thulasi got Rs 1 lakh each.

Twenty other ONGC sportspersons, who were a part of the Asian Games contingent, were given a cash incentive of Rs 50,000 each.