Sania gets Khel Ratna, 17 others get Arjuna award

She is the second tennis player after Leander Paes to be named for the top award

Wednesday 19th August 2015 06:35 EDT
 
 

India's tennis star Sania Mirza has won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for 2015. Seventeen other sports persons have been nominated for the Arjuna award. Sania’s name was officially approved for the coveted award, becoming only the second tennis player to be nominated for the highest sporting honour.

Cricketer Rohit Sharma, shooter Jitu Rai, gymnast Dipa Karmakar, hockey player P R Sreejesh, wrestling duo of Bajrang and Babita, athlete M.R. Poovamma, shuttler K Srikanth and boxer Mandeep Jangra are among those who won the Arjuna award.

“It’s a tremendous honour for me to be conferred the Khel Ratna award and I feel humbled with the love and respect showered on me by my country,” Sania said.

“Representing my country in all corners of the world has been my great privilege for so many years and this recognition of my efforts by the government of India is certain to inspire me to earn more laurels for our country. I would like to wish all my fellow Indians a happy independence day,” she said.

Sania, currently ranked world number one in women’s doubles, scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win a women’s doubles Grand Slam title when she and Martina Hingis clinched the Wimbledon trophy earlier this year. Sania is only the second tennis player after Leander Paes to be named for the top award. Paes had been bestowed the honour way back in 1996 after his bronze medal in the Atlanta Olympics.

The 28-year-old, who has won three mixed doubles Grand Slams in her career, beat competition from squash player Deepika Pallikal, discus thrower Vikas Gowda, track and field star Tintu Luka, rising shuttler P V Sindhu and hockey captain Sardar Singh for the coveted honour.

The awards will be conferred by the President Pranab Mukherjee on August 29, the National Sports Day. The Khel Ratna carries a prize money of 7,500 pounds along with a citation, while the Arjuna awards come with a cash prize of 5, 000 pounds and a citation.

Besides doing well on the professional circuit, Sania had also won the gold medal and the bronze medal in the mixed and women’s doubles categories of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

The Hyderabadi girl had won the Arjuna award in 2004 and was the favourite for the top award this year. In 2006, she was bestowed the Padma Shri - the country’s fourth highest civilian honour.

The list of sportspersons recommended for Arjuna awards: P R Sreejesh (hockey), Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics), Jitu Rai (shooting), Sandeep Kumar (archery), Mandeep Jangra (boxing), Babita (wrestling), Bajrang (wrestling), Rohit Sharma (cricket), K Srikanth (badminton), Swarn Singh Virk (rowing), Satish Sivalingam (weightlifting), Yumnam Santhoi Devi (wushu), Sharath Gaekwad (para-sailing), M R Poovamma (athletics), Manjeet Chhillar (kabaddi), Abhilasha Mhatre (kabaddi), Anup Kumar Yama (rollerskating).


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