PBA felicitates players

Ludhiana: Punjab basketball team members, who secured positions in different championships, were felicitated by the Punjab Basketball Association (PBA) here on Saturday.  They, along with their coaches, were honoured at a function organised by the PBA at Guru Nanak Stadium.  Those who were honoured were members of the Punjab senior contingent, who bagged gold medal in the 69th National Basketball Championship held at Bhavnagar in Gujarat, last month; and Punjab girls, who emerged winners in the Youth National Basketball Championship (U-17) at Udaipur in Rajasthan from September 30 to October 7, last year. Besides, Punjab boys and girls (U-17), who romped home champions in the Khelo India Youth Games held at Pune early this year; Punjab girls (U-21) who finished runners up in the Khelo India Youth Games at Pune last year and Punjab boys (U-19) who finished at the third place in the Junior National Basketball Championship in Ludhiana last year in May, were also honoured. PBA president Rajdeep Singh was the chief guest. He appreciated the players for bringing fame to the state.  The office-bearers of the association including Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar, Teja Singh Dhaliwal, JP Singh and Vijay Chopra besides Dronacharya award winners, Baldev Singh and Sukhdev Singh Pannu, Arjuna award winners, Suman Sharma, Sukhpal Singh Brar and Padma Shree Bahadur Singh, Olympian Hardeep Singh Grewal and representatives of other sports associations — Avinash Chander Maini and Pran Nath Passi, sports promoter Rajinder Singh Gill, Jagdeep Singh Gill and GS Sandhu, were among others who attended the function. OC