Despite row, TN honours Santhi

SPORTING SHAME: Santhi failed the gender test at Asian Games on Sunday.

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Maharaj or Dada, Ganguly's legacy lives on

Featured Slideshows

New Delhi: Athlete Santhi Soundarajan, India's controversial silver medalist at the Asian Games, on Monday attended an award ceremony conducted in Chennai to celebrate her performance in Doha.

Santhi, who is likely to be stripped off her Asiad silver after failing the gender test, received a Rs 15-lakh cheque from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi at a private ceremony.

Tamil Nadu government had announced prize money for the medal winners from the state but despite the news of Santhi

failing a gender test, it went ahead with presenting the award to her.

Santhi refused to comment on the issue.

"I have not received any information from anyone. So I don't know what's going on. But I feel that I am fine and that ther is nothing wrong with me," she said.

The Indian chess team captain K Sasikaran, squash player Sourav Ghosal and Anju Bobby George were the other players who were awarded the prizes.

Sources in the Indian contingent said Santhi's adverse report has been sent to the Asiad jury which will formally decide to strip her of the medal.

Sources say that Indian sports officials were aware that Santhi had been denied two jobs earlier because she did not have the "sexual characteristics" of a woman.