New Delhi : Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and badminton ace Saina Nehwal were on Monday named for the prestigious Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian award.
Apart from the celebrated pair, ace archer Deepika Kumari was also named for the Padma Shri award, while popular commentator Sushil Doshi will also get the same.
Sania and Saina performed outstandingly last year. Sania enjoyed a superb run in 2015 when she won nine women’s doubles trophies, including two Grand Slams partnering veteran Swiss Martina Hingis.
The Indo-Swiss combination is doing well this year also. They have already won the Sydney Open and the Brisbane International and have entered the quarter-finals of the ongoing Australian Open.
Sania had earlier received the Arjuna Award (2004), Padma Shri (2006) and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2015). Saina too has won the Arjuna Award (2009), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009-2010) and the Padma Shri (2010).
Deepika, a former World No.1, continued her journey by bagging a silver medal in the women’s recurve event at the 2015 Archery World Cup Final in Mexico City. It was the 21-year-old Jharkhand archer’s fourth medal in five appearances at World Cup Finals.
She had won the Arjuna Award in 2012. Sania personified Indian tennis in 2015 with a stupendous rise that catapulted her to the tip of the women’s doubles rankings and also become the maiden countrywoman to win a Grand Slam. Her association with Hingis, forged in March 2015, formed the basis of an unstoppable juggernaut as they complemented each other perfectly to embark on a fairytale journey adorned with prestigious Grand Slam victories at Wimbledon and the US Open.
