"Announce job & cash prize": Vijender Singh tweets to Haryana CM demanding rewards for athletes who reached Olympics 2021 quarterfinals

Former Indian boxer and 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Vijender Singh has urged the chief minister of Haryana to provide jobs and cash rewards to athletes from Haryana who have managed to qualify for the quarterfinals at the Olympics 2021.

The renowned Indian boxer took to social media platform Twitter to share his opinion. The tweet comes after Pooja Rani, a boxer who hails from Haryana, managed to book a spot in the quarterfinals of the women's welterweight event.

I request cm @mlkhattar sir plz announce job & cash price for athlete who reached in quarterfinal 🙏🏽

— Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) July 29, 2021

So far, only Pooja Rani and the members of the Indian men's hockey team have managed to reach the quarterfinals in their respective sports. However, more athletes from the state of Haryana will be in contention at the Games in the coming days.

Rewards for Indian medal winners at Olympics 2021

The Haryana government has already announced the cash reward amounts it will be handing over to its athletes who manage to win medals at the Tokyo Olympics. Former hockey player Sandeep Singh, who is now the sports minister of the Indian state, announced the cash rewards on Twitter in June.

The gold medal winners will be given a cash reward of INR 6 crore, the silver medalists will win INR 4 crore while the bronze medalists will take home INR 2.5 crore as cash prize.

Apart from this, the Haryana government also announced that all 30 athletes from the state who will be representing India in Tokyo will get a sum of Rs 5 lakh to prepare for the Summer Games.

बुलंद इरादों के साथ टोक्यो ओलंपिक में इतिहास रचने जा रहे हरियाणा के सभी खिलाड़ियों को हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। pic.twitter.com/xn2rnrpU0p

— Sandeep Singh (@flickersingh) June 28, 2021

As always, the north-Indian state of Haryana leads the way in terms of representation with the highest number of athletes coming from the region. Apart from several players in the men's and women's hockey teams, the state's athletes are a part of shooting, wrestling, track & field and boxing contingents as well.

Some of the athletes from the state like Neeraj Chopra in javelin throw, Manu Bhaker in shooting, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrag Punia in wrestling and Amit Panghal in boxing are firm favorites to win medals in their respective events.

Who is Vijender Singh

Vijender Singh is a middleweight Indian boxer who won bronze for the country in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He backed it up with two more bronze medals - at the 2009 World Championships and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He also won silver at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games.

At 35, he is currently a politician in India.