Three players from Andhra Pradesh will be representing India at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 which is slated to be held from 23 July 2021 to 8 August 2021. Badminton players PV Sindhu, Satwik SaiRaj Rankireddy, and hockey player Rajani Etimarpu are the players from AP who have qualified for this global sporting event which takes place every four years.
On 30 June 2021, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, had met with these three players and wished them luck for the prestigious event. Also, CM Jagan handed over a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to each of the three players as a reward for qualifying for the Olympics. In the same meeting, he had also handed over a copy of the Government Order (GO) allocating 2 acres of land to PV Sindhu for her badminton academy, and sports school, which is slated to come up in Visakhapatnam.
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Hon’ble CM @ysjagan conveyed his best wishes to Andhra Pradesh players @pvsindhu1, @satwiksairaj and Rajani Etimarpu who will be participating in Tokyo Olympics 2020 and awarded Rs.5 lakh each for making it to the games. @Tokyo2020 1/2 pic.twitter.com/DybLlFp6WM
— CMO Andhra Pradesh (@AndhraPradeshCM) June 30, 2021
On Monday, a signature collection event was organized at the Zilla Parishad High School in Visakhapatnam to congratulate the players.
Hopes are high on these three players from Andhra Pradesh who are representing the nation at Tokyo Olympics. PV Sindhu had won a silver medal in the singles badminton at the Rio Olympics 2016. This time, she will be aiming to go one step further and bag the gold. Sindhu has been in great form, winning three World Championship medals, including the gold in 2019. For the Tokyo Olympics, Sindhu has been put in Group J of women’s singles and will compete with K Polikarpova from Israel on 25 July in her first game.
Badminton player Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy, selected in Group A for men’s doubles, teamed up with Chirang Shetty to compete with Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin on 24 July. Satwik, who is competing in his first-ever Olympic Games, has won two medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
Women’s field hockey player Etimarpu Rajani hails from Enumulavaripalli, a village in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Rajani, a goalkeeper in the Indian national women’s field hockey team, played her first international tournament in New Zealand against the hosts in 2009. Rajani has been part of the team at the Rio Olympics 2016, Commonwealth Games 2010, and FIH Women’s World Cup 2010.
The Tokyo Olympics was scheduled to be held in 2020 but got postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic; this being the first instance of an Olympics being rescheduled. The upcoming event will be held largely behind closed doors. Doordarshan will telecast the Tokyo Olympics 2021.
Let us send our best wishes to all the Indians who are representing the country at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 and support them throughout the event.
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