In the Indian Open Race Walking competition held at Chandigarh, Barnala player Akshdeep Singh son of Gurjant Singh from village Kahaneke completed the 20 km walk in 1 hour 19 minutes 38 seconds thereby winning gold medal and securing a ticket to the Paris Olympics. Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer congratulated Akshdeep Singh and wished him all the best for bagging a gold medal for India for forthcoming Paris Olympics.
Meanwhile, Akshdeep Singh too thanked the Hon'ble Chief Minister Mr. Bhagwant Singh Mann and Sports Minister Mr. Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer. Expressing his gratitude, Mr. Akshdeep Singh said that even before that he had qualified for the Olympics, the Punjab government had helped him financially with grants of lakhs of rupees to help him prepare well for the sporting events. He said that Punjab government has done hand holding of the players by means of providing assistance for preparation.
He said that due to this financial assistance, he has once again qualified for the Olympics by breaking the Indian record by performing well. District Sports Officer Umeshwari Sharma also congratulated Akshdeep Singh and his family on this special occasion and thanked the Chief Minister Mr. Bhagwant Singh Mann and Sports Minister Mr. Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer for taking care of the players and opening the doors of government treasury even before one actually bagged laurels for the nation.