more-in It was a proud homecoming for Commonwealth Games gold-medalist Ragala Venkata Rahul as he arrived at the Vijayawada Airport first time after the success, on Wednesday. He was welcomed and congratulated by the State’s Sports Minister Kollu Ravindra, Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh chairman P. Ankamma Chowdary, managing director N. Bangara Raju, and State Weightlifting Association president Surya Narayana. Also, district sports development officials and chief coaches from Guntur, several members of the sports fraternity and relatives from his village gave a rousing welcome to the 21-year-old weightlifter from Stuartpuram village of Bapatla in Guntur district. Driving force “Only with the support of my coach and parents I was able to achieve this success. They have been the driving force for me since childhood. The State government has also supported,” he said. Mr. Rahul further said that he aims for Olympics. Later Mr. Rahul met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at his residence. Mr. Naidu congratulated the athlete and felicitated him with a shawl and memento. Speaking on the occasion Mr. Naidu asked Rahul to aim for bigger championships and focus on Asian and Olympic games. In the evening a felicitation function was held at the Grievance hall near CM’s residence where all the officials and fraternity of AP sports took part.

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