National Sports Awards 2022: CWG Gold medalist Nayanmoni Saikia to receive Arjuna Award

Commonwealth Games (CWG) gold medalist, Nayanmoni Saikia from Assam has been selected for the prestigious Arjuna Award 2022.

In addition to this, Shushila Devi Likmabam who won a silver medal in the women's judo 48kg final will too receive the Arjuna Award.

As per the National Sports Awards 2022 which were announced on November 14, the awardees will receive their awards from the President of India  Droupadi Murmu at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Taking to the micro-blogging site Twitter, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shared the same and congratulated Saikia on being selected for the prestigious awards.

''Heartiest congratulations Nayanmoni Saikia on being selected for the prestigious #ArjunaAwards 2022.

Winner of a historic gold medal in women's lawn bowl at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Nayanmoni is an inspiration for many. My best wishes,'' he tweeted.

Notably, every year, the National Sports Awards are presented to honour and reward excellence in sports.

The said award is given to players for their splendid performance in their respective games over the course of the past four years. 

Saikia, one of the team members of the Indian Women's team who bagged the gold medal in the Lawn Bowl at the Commonwealth Games, in 2022, was promoted to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in September this year.

Saikia and her team won the historic gold medal in the Lawn Bowl event at Commonwealth Games 2022 with a 17-10 victory over South Africa.

The team consisted of Lovely Choubey (lead), Pinki (second), Nayanmoni Saikia (third), and Rupa Rani Tirkey (skip).

Nayanmoni came to the limelight with her performance which helped the Indian women's team secure their first medal in the history of lawn ball event at the Commonwealth Games. 

On the other hand, Shushila, who defeated Harriet Bonface in the quarterfinal, notched up a second win by beating Priscilla Morand of Mauritius in the semis to assure herself a medal.

Having already secured a silver medal, Sushila was hoping to win gold in the final, but lost to South Africa's Michaela Whitebooi, earning her second CWG medal.

Whitebooi triumphed in a tough match against Shushila, scoring a Golden Score victory. 

The Indian judoka, who won a silver medal at the 2014 CWG and competed for her country at the Olympics in Tokyo last year, was slightly disappointed with the result.