NEW DELHI JUL 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the Indian contingent bound for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 today via video conferencing. The interaction was attended by both athletes as well as their coaches. Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports and Information & Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur and Secretary for Sports were also present.
The Prime Minister wished the Indian contingent for Commonwealth Games on International Chess day. The Chess Olympiad is also taking place from 28 July in Tamil Nadu. He wished them for making India proud, as their predecessors did before. He informed that more than 65 athletes are participating in Commonwealth for the first time and he wished them to make a tremendous impact. He advised them to “play with all your heart, play hard, play with full force, and will play without any stress”.
During the interaction, the Prime Minister enquired from Shri Avinash Sable, an athlete from Maharashtra, about his life experience of coming from Maharashtra and working in the Indian Army in Siachen. He said that he got to learn a lot from his 4 years stint in the Indian Army. He said that the discipline and training he received from the Indian Army would help him shine in whichever field he would go to. The PM asked him why he chose the steeplechase field while working in Siachen. He said steeplechase is all about crossing obstacles and he received similar training in the Army. The PM asked about his experience of losing weight so fast. He said that the Army motivated him to join sports and he got extra time to train himself and which helped in lose weight.
