Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today handed over Rs one lakh cheque to M N Ponnamma, who was part of the bronze-medal winning Indian junior world hockey team in Moenchengladbach, Germany.

“I would like to congratulate Ponnamma for her achievement. The government will extend all support to her and hope she would one day play for the Indian senior team,” Siddaramaiah told reporters after handing over the cash reward to Ponnamma at his official residence here.

Ponnamma, who hails from Ponnampet town in Kodagu district, thanked Siddaramaiah for supporting her. “I was very happy when the chief minister promised to extend all support to me.”

Ponnamma said she is focusing hard to come up with yet another sterling performance in next month’s Asia Cup to be played in Malaysia.

Ponnamma, who is a defender, played in all the matches of the world junior hockey tournament and scored the all important third goal in the quarterfinal against Spain, which India won 4-2.

She said her good performance in the last year’s nationals had earned her a place in the national team.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> National> News / by Press Trust of India / Bangalore – August 14th, 2013