Assam's Nayanmoni Saikia was on cloud nine on Monday after she was selected for the prestigious Arjuna Award. Saikia, coming from Golaghat district, was part of the lawn bowls women's team that won the historic gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games earlier this year.
Apart from Saikia, Manipur's Shushila Devi Likmabam was the only other athlete from the northeast to be selected for the award. Shushila, who hails from Heingang, East Imphal, won silver at the Birmingham meet. It was her second medal at the quadrennial event having earlier also won silver at the Gold Coach event. Shushila was also the lone judoka from India to take part at the Tokyo Olympics.
