Commonwealth Games (CWG) gold medallist and now an Arjuna awardee, boxer Manoj Kumar on Wednesday didn't miss the opportunity to let former India cricket team captain Kapil Dev, who also headed the selection panel for this year's Arjuna Awards, know his credentials.
After his name was allegedly deleted from the initial list of Arjuna Awards, Kumar filed a case in the Delhi High Court and won it, following which the Sports Ministry named him among the awardees. He received the award from Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday.
But the boxer is still appeared aggrieved, blaming the Kapil-led selection panel for denying him the honours. "My work is to do boxing. According to my achievements I simply deserved the award but they sidelined me. I don't know who made those false allegations against me of doping and I was ruled out," Manoj told a news channel.
"When I called Kapil Dev, the first question he asked me was 'do I know you'. I told him 'I am boxer Manoj who won a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games. My name has been removed from the Arjuna Award list and you are giving the award to a bronze medallist.' But he hung up on me.
"Today, I want to tell Mr. Kapil Dev that my name is Manoj Kumar, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist," a visibly upset Manoj signed off.
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