The Uttar Pradesh government also announced that it will honour Sakshi with the coveted Rani Laxmi Bai award.
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“We award Rs five lakh each to Sindhu and Sakshi”, Patel tweeted.
To be fair, there are Indian male athletes still in the running for medals at Rio.
Media reports say locals initially berated her parents, telling them that their daughter would become undesirable to potential suitors.
Sindhu made a historic entry into the final of badminton women’s singles event, hours after Sakshi had nailed the country’s first medal following 11 blank days in this Brazilian city. The woman athlete has won the very first medal for India in the medal tally and has been able to make a mark among the top wrestlers in the nation.
A silver medallist at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and bronze victor at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, Sakshi made a dramatic comeback from 0-5 to win 8-5 win over Kyrgysztan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova.
Sakshi turned the tables on the Kyrgyzstan wrestler in the dying seconds of the bout as Tynybekova was in complete command in most part of the clash. Trying hard against her Kyrgyzstan opponent, Malik gave a hit to hand India its fourth bronze in wrestling the history of Olympic. I was confident that I can win in the end even being down. “The way she came from behind to win Bronze at Rio shows her class, grit and determination”.
Sakshi’s medal capped another day of heartbreaks for India including an unfortunate injury to Vinesh in the women’s 48kg Freestyle category that forced her out of the competition. She was trained under the guidance of Ishwar Dahiya at an Akhara in Chotu Ram Stadium.
And when Maria too lost her quarter-final bout against Venezuela’s Betzabeth Angelica Arguello Villegas 3-6, it spelt curtains for the Indian’s slim hopes of replicating Sakshi and win a bronze through the repechage process.
As the khap leader was speaking, Sudesh Malik, Sakshi’s mother, went about greeting visitors and journalists who would ask what made Sakshi wrestle.
“Her grandfather was also a wrestler”.
“I have been receiving so many calls on my mobile phones for congratulatory messages ever since my daughter won the medal at Rio Olympic games”, said Sudesh Malik, mother of Sakshi as the family was busy in distributing candies to everyone who came to congratulate the wrestler’s family.
Sakshi has not yet got the Arjuna Award, but the policy decision by the government will ensure that she is directly considered for the Khel Ratna.
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PM Modi described Sakshi’s bronze winning performance as a gift to the country on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan and said her feat will inspire the country’s sportspersons. “But I supported her”.
