New Delhi, May 9 (IANS): The Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Tuesday felicitated medal winners from the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship, which ended earlier this month in Russia.

The Indian girls, who bagged a total of 17 medals from the competition, were felicitated by the SAI's Deputy Director Generals, Ekta Vishnoi and Shiv Sharma.

The girls, who also participated in the Khelo India Women's leagues held in India across a year, bagged 10 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals in the junior girls, sub-junior girls and senior girls categories across Sanda (Fight) and Taolu in Moscow.

Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, had earlier tweeted congratulations to the athletes.

"It is a matter of pride to see our girls making us proud and the nation reaping the benefits of Khelo India Women's League! Past participants in Khelo India league, now on the podium with 17 medals at the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship held in Russia!," Thakur had tweeted.

The tweet was retweeted by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a congratulations message for the athletes.

The girls beat competitors from Wushu strongholds China and Indonesia en route to the medals. The participation of the girls, which included SAI NCOE athletes, in the Moscow competition was sanctioned at full cost to the Government.

Wushu athlete and 2018 Arjuna Awardee Pooja Kadian, who is also one of the coaches of the Wushu team, said, "In previous years, the Wushu athletes had to pay Rs 1.5 lakh each to take part in the Moscow Stars Championship. This time it was free because the Government sponsored the trip."

"We are selecting the crop of our Asian Games probables from these girls. The Khelo India scheme too is doing immense to uplift women and I appeal to more girls to participate and get the much-needed platform to perform at the highest stage," Pooja, the first woman gold medalist from the Wushu World Championships (2017) added.