GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday felicitated young woman boxer from the state, Ankushita Bodo and presented her with a cheque of Rs 10 lakh in recognition to her gold winning feat in 64 kg category and ‘Boxer of the Championship’ title in the recently concluded AIBA World Youth Women Boxing Championship.
Sonowal said, “Sports is the most potential zone in Assam and the youth of the state have a natural knack for it. The government would leave no stone unturned to provide the best possible facilities to the young sportspersons. We will extend support to all the sportspersons who have already made the state proud in international events”, Sonowal said.
He also assured to provide necessary assistance to Boxer Minu Basumatary and Phoulau Basumatary who also won medals in the AIBA World Youth Women Championship earlier but failed to receive any recognition so far.
Congratulating Ankushita Bodo on her recent feat, Sonowal advised her to work hard with perseverance to emerge as a disciplined sportsperson and win more medals in international and world championships and bring glory to Assam.
“Ankushita Bodo’s achievement is a great inspiration for the young generation of Assam and has entrenched people’s faith in the abilities of our sportspersons. The positive vibes which has been generated by her success is our greatest achievement”, Sonowal said adding that the talented boxer’s journey has just begun and she would have to maintain discipline, strong character and sportsmanship spirit to excel more in future.
Sonowal sought support from people in the endeavour to make Assam as the sports capital of the country and identifying sports talents from rural areas. He has already directed the Sports Department to formulate a sports policy for the state with focus of public-private collaboration.
Boxer Ankushita Bodo while sharing her experience apprised the Chief Minister about the challenges faced by sportspersons from Assam in the national camps and sought his intervention. She also requested the Chief Minister to take steps for bringing the coach under whom she went through training for the AIBA Championship from Delhi to Assam and expressed her desire to prepare herself for forthcoming events from the state only.
