FICCI- FLO and YFLO Celebrates – ‘WOMEN OF GOLD’ New Delhi – December 3rd, 2010

FLO believes that successful women must be recognized not only because they deserve to but also it encourages other women to face all odds and emerge victorious and confident. It is in this spirit FICCI-FLO-YFLO organized a programme to honour the ‘Golden Girls’ who have won the gold medals at the Common Wealth Games 2010 held in New Delhi.

In her welcome address Ranjana Agarwal, President-FLO. applauded the achievements of the Gold Medal winners at the CWG 2010, New Delhi and thanked them for making the nation proud.

Five ‘Golden Girls’ present at the occasion were Saina Nehwal (Badminton), Deepika Kumari (Archery), Krishna Poonia (Discus Throw) Ashwini Ponnappa (Badminton) and Anisa Sayed (Pistol Shooting).

Mr Rajan Bharti Mittal, President FICCI expressed his gratitude to media for giving sports the attention it deserves. He congratulated the Gold Medallists present. Mr Mittal mentioned that India has not yet emerged as a truly global power like it has in the economic field.

Dr. M.S. Gill, Hon’ble Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt. of India was the Chief Guest and he gave the awardees the FLO citation and a token of appreciation. He mentioned that during his tenure the budget for sports has gone up from Rs. 40 crores to Rs 678 crores. Out of this, Rs 20 crores were spent on foreign coaching and will spend further on better facilities so that India’s performance in London Olympics 2012 further improves.

While sharing experiences, Saina Nehwal said that she is looking forward to win the Hong Kong Super Series and the India Open title. She wanted to continuously improve her badminton skills so that she can make her country proud. Krishna Poonia particularly thanked the media for highlighting her achievements and also thanked FICCI-FLO for recognising her efforts. Anisa Sayyed was specifically excited about her Gold medal in the CWG 2010 because she proved wrong the popular notion that girls can’t perform well in sports after marriage. Ashwini Ponnappa was hopeful that with constant practice and resolute will power, she will definitely do well in the future. After winning two gold medals in CWG 2010 and a team bronze in the Asian Games, Deepika Kumari is keen to take her game to the next level and feels that a foreign coach will help a lot in achieving her objective.