New Delhi: Olympic and World Championships silver medallist shuttler, PV Sindhu has been recommended for the prestigious Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian award, by the sports ministry here Monday. “Yes, we have recommended Sindhu for Padma Bhushan,” a senior sports ministry official told this agency.
A two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, Sindhu has been simply unstoppable ever since becoming the first Indian to win a silver at Rio Games last year.
The 22-year-old from Hyderabad clinched the 2016 China Open Super Series Premier, India Open Super Series tournaments, bagged a historic silver at the Glasgow World Championship last month before laying claim to her third Super Series title at Korea Open this month. A three-time Macau Open champion, Sindhu also won the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow this year.
Riding on a series of good performances, Sindhu achieved a career-best world ranking of No.2 in April for a brief period. Last week, she climbed back to her No.2 position, following a good week at Seoul.
In 2014, Sindhu won four bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games, Incheon Asian Games, Uber Cup and Asia Championship.
In March 2015, Sindhu was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri and in 2016 she was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Elated at being nominated for the Padma Bhushan the shuttler thanked Monday, the sports ministry for the recommendation.
The 22-year-old Sindhu now joins former India cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the second sportsperson to be nominated for the prestigious award this year.
“I am very happy that my name has been recommended for the Padma Bhushan. I would like to thank the government and the sports ministry,” Sindhu said over phone.
Press Trust Of India