Birendra Lakra gets Biju Patnaik State Award

Bhubaneswar: The State government today honoured eminent sports personalities with prestigious Biju Patnaik State Award for this year in a function here.

International hockey star Birendra Lakra was awarded with the ‘Outstanding player of the year Award’.
Nita Ambani Football Academy coach Nanda Kishore Patnaik received the Excellent Coach Award while veteran basketball player Ashok Kumar Sahu received the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his profound contribution to sports and games in the State.

Senior journalist Satish Sharma received ‘Sports Journalist Award'.

The government also honored Srabani Nanda and Purnima Hembram with financial rewards at the function organized by the Sports and Youth Affairs department.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik was the chief guest in the function which was attended by Sports minister Sudam Marandi and secretary Shaswat Mishra.