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Aanchal Thakur wins India's 1st international skiing medal, PM Modi lauds feat

Narendra Modi congratulated the Manali girl for her feat, stating the entire country was ecstatic for her historic accomplishment.

Erzurum: Aanchal Thakur scripted history on Tuesday after winning the first-ever medal for India in an international skiing competition. The 21-year-old won bronze at Alpine Ejder 3200 Cup in the slalom race category which was organised by Skiing’s international governing body, International Ski Federation at the Palandoken Ski Centre, in Erzurum in Turkey.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated the Manali girl for her feat, stating the entire country was ecstatic for her historic accomplishment. "Well done @alleaanchal for winning an international medal in skiing! The entire nation is ecstatic on your historic accomplishment at the FIS International Skiing Competition in Turkey. Wishing you the very best for your future endeavours," Modi wrote on Twitter.

Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore also expressed his wishes.

Thakur also took to social media and expressed her happiness, mentioning it was totally ‘unexpected’. “Finally something unexpected happened. My first ever international medal. Federation International Ski Race (FIS). At the end turkey served me well,” Thakur captioned the tweet with multiple images of her podium finish.

The Manali skier’s father who is the secretary general of the Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI) termed his daughter’s achievement as a breakthrough for the sport.

“Months of training have finally borne fruit. I started well and managed to take a good lead, which helped later in getting the third-place finish. Aanchal called me on WhatsApp and showed me the medal. I thought it was some kind of a souvenir given at the end of every FIS event! But she told me that she won a bronze. This is a breakthrough for the sport in India and the entire skiing fraternity is proud of her achievement,” Roshan Thakur told the Times of India.

He was also optimistic about receiving financial help from the government.

“I hope Aanchal’s medal helps our cause (in getting financial support from the Centre). I want to see my daughter and son represent the country at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The Centre only funds travel and logistics from one Olympic to another. Rest of the time, you have to fend for yourself,” Roshan added.

( Source : deccan chronicle )
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