IOA announces Randhir Singh, Jaspal Rana memorial trophies for best Asian Games athletes

NEW DELHI: Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha on Tuesday announced two memorial awards named after veteran sports administrator late Randhir Singh and shooting great Jaspal Rana.The awards will be given to the best male and female athletes at the Asian Games.Singh served as the IOA secretary general for 25 years from 1987 to 2012. He also served as the president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). Singh died at the age of 79 in May this year.Rana, a multiple Asian and Commonwealth Games medallist and renowned pistol coach, died at the age of 49 in June. He was the coach of double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker.Awards to honour Asian Games starsUsha made the announcement during the launch of a book on Rana titled "Maverick Jaspal", co-authored by senior sports journalists S Kannan and G Rajaraman."From this year, the IOA has decided to introduce two memorial trophies in the names of legendary Raja Randhir Singh and shooting great Jaspal Rana for the best athletes in the Asian Games," she said."The Raja Randhir Singh Trophy will be awarded to the best male athlete of the Asian Games, while the Jaspal Rana Trophy will be awarded to the best female athlete of the Asian Games to honour their contribution to Indian sports."Usha says no accommodation issues so farUsha also said there were no accommodation-related issues for the Indian contingent at Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, which is hosting the Asian Games.She said Chef de Mission Sahdev Yadav would handle any problems if they arise."They (organisers) have to give rooms because they are the organisers. From our side, we will do our best, and there is a Chef de Mission, and if there are any problems, he will solve them," said Usha, who will leave for Japan on Wednesday.'We are Team India'Asked about accommodation-related problems for the Indian cricket teams, Usha said: "I didn't get any complaints from there. They are all athletes, and we are Team India."Usha does not want to put pressure on athletesThe IOA chief also said she did not want to put any pressure on the athletes competing at the Asian Games."I don't want to give any pressure to our athletes. I think they have all gone there with confidence. Hope that they will do their best. The Indian government, sports ministry, and IOA have already provided them with whatever they wanted."Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.