IOA president Narinder Batra started the function by apologising for not being able to present some athletes with cheques
The Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) ceremony to felicitate the 2018 Asian Games medallists on Sunday turned out to be a comedy of errors as they misspelt the names of various winners on the cheques and ended up giving bouquets instead, besides forgetting to include an athlete's name altogether.
Knowing well in advance about his association's mistake of getting the names of around 15 medallists wrong, IOA president Narinder Batra apologised at the beginning of the function itself.
However, he wasn't aware of the further embarrassment that was in store. The IOA missed out the name of bronze medallist wrestler Divya Kakran in the list of medal winners that were to be given cash awards by sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
Had it not been for Kakran's parents pointing out the oversight after the completion of the function, Rathore would have left the venue.
"The IOA official said that Divya's name was not there in the list but we had given them her name in advance. I don't know whose mistake it is," Divya's mother said after receiving her daughter's award.
Batra started the function by apologising for not being able to present some athletes with cheques.
"I would like to apologise in advance for our mistake. The names of around 14-15 players have been printed incorrectly, so we will give them a bouquet. But don't worry, you will get your cash prizes. I didn't want to give cheques with misspelt names," said the IOA chief.
Around 15 medallists including shooter Abhishek Verma and archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam, among others, were given bouquets instead of cheques due to the spelling errors.
IOA dished out cheques of Rs 3 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh to the gold, silver and bronze medal winners in team events, respectively. Individual medal winners received Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively.
Star wrestlers and Asiad gold medallists Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat gave the awards function a miss, with the former unhappy at not being considered for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Several other players were also absent from the ceremony including javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, tennis players Rohan Bopanna, Divij Sharan and badminton stars PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal.
OLYMPIC-SIZE SLIP-UP
The 15 Asian Games medallists whose names were misspelt included shooter Abhishek Verma and archer Jyothi Vennam. IOA also forgot the name of bronze medallist wrestler Divya Kakran.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Narinder Batra")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}