Akshdeep Singh & Manju Rani of Punjab won the first place in both the Men and Women categories of the 20 km walk of the ongoing 11th National Open Walk Racing Competition at Chandigarh and brought glory to the name of the state. Three of the first five positions in the Men's category were bagged by athletes from Punjab and two of the first four positions in the Women's category were bagged by athletes from Punjab.
Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer congratulated both the winning Athletes and said that they have brought laurels to the name of the state with their performance. He said that Akshdeep Singh of Kahneke village of Barnala district, is the National record holder and has also qualified for the Paris Olympic Games.
Similarly, Manju Rani of village Khaira Khurd in Mansa district won a Bronze medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games besides setting a national record. He said that the State Government led by Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann is making continuous efforts to make Punjab shine again on the sports map.
Recently, the Chief Minister honoured Manju Rani with a prize money of Rs. 50 lakh while Akshdeep Singh was honoured with a prize money of Rs. 5 lakh for qualifying for the Olympics. In the ongoing championship at Sukhna Lake today, Akshdeep Singh won the Gold medal with a time of 1.19.38 in the Men's 20 km walk. Punjab's Arshpreet Singh came fourth and Sahil came fifth. In the women's category, Manju Rani clocked 1.33.00 to won the Gold Medal medal, while another athlete from Punjab, Ramandeep Kaur, finished fourth.