Gurpreet conferred Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award

Our Correspondent

Phagwara, July 11

Prominent shooting star Gurpreet Singh, who is pursuing BA at Lovely Professional University (LPU), was conferred Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award by the Government of Punjab on July 9.

The award included Rs 2 lakh and the trophy of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh in armour atop a steed, blazer and a scroll, was conferred to 93 sportspersons of Punjab by the Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh.

A total of 81 players, who had excelled in sports from 2011-2018 were selected for the award. Besides, 12 veteran players who had already been felicitated by the Union Government.

In a major shift in the sports policy by the state government, it has been decided that the player from Punjab honoured with Padma Awards or Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award or Arjuna Award will automatically get selected for Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award.

Gurpreet Singh, an Olympian, was earlier honoured with Arjuna Award in 2016 for his exemplary performance in shooting.

Gurpreet Singh has bagged the gold medal in 25-m Standard Pistol event and Rapid Fire pistol team event, silver in 25-m Centre Fire team event and Bronze medal in 25-m Centre Fire individual event during 19th Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship which was held at Dr Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad.