Carrom champs not fit for Arjuna?

New Delhi: Various sports federations across the country are busy listing names for this year's prestigious Arjuna Awards.

But after 10 years of neglect, the All India Carrom Federation is set to take up the matter with the Sports Ministry for not having deemed any player fit for the recognition.

After world champion A Maria Irudayam was conferred with the country's highest sporting honour in 1997, names recommended by the Carrom Federation since haven't been considered.

"Carrom has been subject to gross injustice and we are not going to take it lying down. We are going to the Sports Minister seeking his intervention in the matter," AICF Chairman Jai Prakash Agarwal, also a Rajya Sabha member, said on Friday.

This time, too, the Carrom Federation has given its recommendations, but is wary of yet another snub.

AICF has recommended World Cup winner Yogesh Pardesi and current Asian champion I Ilavazhaki for the Arjuna Award, while national coach Arun Deshpande's name has been recommended for the Dronacharya Award, AICF General Secretary SK Sharma told PTI.

"Yogesh has won five gold medals, apart from a silver, in international tournaments last year, while Ilavazhaki bagged three gold, two silver and a bronze medal abroad. We are optimistic that they won't be ignored," Sharma said.

It was, in fact, last year that the All India Carrom Federation formally protested after two-time world champion R M Shankara Nirmala was not given the honour.

The AICF Chairman also hinted that the game has not been given the opportunity to use the best infrastructure available in the country. The BNP Paribas Inter-Zonal Carrom Championship will be held at the Vishwa Yuvak Kendra in the Capital, when it was hoping to host the event amid better surroundings at the Talkatora Stadium or the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

"We wanted either Talkatora stadium or the Nehru Stadium but renovation work was going on there," he said.

The Carrom Federation has also been rallying around the Olympics Council of Asia for the game's inclusion at the South-Asian Games as well as the Asian Games.

(With inputs from PTI)