Gold-medal winning archery team’s reward: Two-hour wait at airport

Kolkata: The bandh did not spare anyone — not even members of the gold-medal winning archery team who, instead of receiving a hero’s welcome, were made to wait for two hours at Kolkata airport after they landed here this morning. The 11-member group of the Indian archery team, including three coaches, had landed at the domestic terminal of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at 8:45 am this morning.
The team, which had gone to Taiwan to participate in the third Asian Grand Prix held between June 29 and July 4, won gold, silver and bronze medals in both the individual and compound categories.
But whatever their achievements, there was nobody to receive the exhausted team that had deplaned from the Air India IC 401 flight at the airport and no car had been arranged to take them to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex at Salt Lake.
“Finding no way, we called up Rajendra Guiya, a SAI coach in Jharkhand, for help. His brother Prakash, who is an employee of the Kolkata police, arranged for a police van for us. We returned with our heavy luggage in that van,” said Ritul Chatterjee, who had won a bronze medal in the men’s individual category.
06/07/10 Sreecheta Das/Express India

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Categories: Airports Jul 2010, Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2010