Sagadighi (West Bengal), Feb 20 (IANS): President Pranab Mukherjee Thursday attended the foundation stone-laying ceremony of a sports academy named after his father and felicitated 12 eminent sportsmen, including P.K. Banerjee and Gurbux Singh, here in Murshidabad district.

Apart from celebrated football player and coach Banerjee and India's Olympic hockey skipper Gurbux Singh, the president also honoured Davis cupper and tennis coach Akhtar Ali during the programme.

Lok Sabha member Abhijit Mukherjee, the president's son, unveiled the foundation stone of the Sports Academy and Wellness Centre, named after Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee - a freedom fighter and educationist.

The president also attended the renaming function of 'Sagardighi Mahavidyalaya' in honour of his father. The new college was christened 'Sagardighi Kamada Kinkar Smriti Mahavidyalaya'.

Sagardighi comes under the Jangipur Lok Sabha constituency, which Mukherjee represented for two terms till he was elected to the nation's highest office in 2012. Abhijit Mukherjee is the present Lok Sabha member from Jangipur.