New Delhi, Jan 25: Tennis star Leander Paes and badminton player-turned-coach Pullela Gopichand were today selected for the prestigious Padma Bhushan awards while cricketer Yuvraj Singh was among the seven sportspersons chosen for this year’s Padma Shree award.
Squash player Dipika Pallikal, former Indian women’s cricket captain Anjum Chopra, Sunil Dabas (Kabaddi), Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu (Mountaineering), H Boniface Prabhu (Wheel Chair Tennis) and Mamta Sodha (Mountaineering) were the other sports persons, selected for this year’s Padma Shree awards.
The Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards of the country, are given for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shree for distinguished service in any field. These awards are conferred by the President at a ceremonial function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
40-year-old Leander Paes, who had earlier being conferred Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards, is the most successful tennis player of the country with 14 Grand Slam title — eight men’s doubles and six mixed doubles.
Last season when he won his 14th major at US Open, he became the oldest players to win a Grand Slam title.
Paes, hero of India’s numerous Davis Cup wins, also won India’s first Olympic medal in singles at the Atlanta Games in 1996, when he won a bronze.
With compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi, he ruled the tennis world in the late 90s. They became the world number one team before parting ways.
Gopichand, one of the finest badminton player to have emerged from the country, is the second renowned sports personality to have been conferred with the Padma Bhushan honour this year.
He was conferred the Arjuna Award in 1999, Khel Ratna in 2001, Padma Shree in 2005 and Dronacharya in 2009 in a glittering career both as a player and a coach.
Gopi, as he is fondly called in the badminton circle, is only the second shuttler from India after Prakash Padukone to have won the prestigious All England Badminton Championships in 2001.
After quitting the game, Gopichand set up his own academy named ‘Gopichand Badminton Academy’ in Hyderabad, which produced the current crop of Indian badminton stars which include Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, PV Sindhu, RMV Gurusai Datt among others.
Gopichand is also credited to have unearth Saina, the first Indian to win a medal in badminton at the Olympics when she bagged the bronze in the 2012 London Games.
Not in the Indian team of late, 32-year-old Yuvraj, a dashing left-handed middle-order batsman and a utility left-arm spinner, was a vital member of India’s limited overs scheme of things.
He was crucial to India’s triumphs in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa and the 2011 ODI World Cup at home.
He was named the Man of the Tournament in the 2011 Cricket World Cup and was one of the top performers at the 2007 World Twenty20.
Yuvraj, who is presently out of the national team due to poor form, has represented India in 293 ODIs, amassing 8329 runs with 13 centuries and 51 half-centuries under his belt.
List of awardees:
Padma Bhushan: Pullela Gopichand (Badminton) and Leander Paes (Tennis).
Padma Shree: Anjum Chopra (Cricket), Sunil Dabas (Cricket), Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu (Mountaineering), Dipika Pallikal (Squash), H Boniface Prabhu (Wheel Chair Tennis), Yuvraj Singh (Cricket), Mamta Sodha (Mountaineering). (PTI)
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