New Delhi: Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu was nominated for the prestigious Parma Bhushan award by the sports ministry on Monday.
Sindhu thus became only the second sportsperson after former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to be nominated for the honour. Dhoni’s name had been recommended by the BCCI and was unanimously nominated.
The 22-year-old shuttler, who has been bringing many laurels for the country in the last few years, just recently became the first Indian to win the Korean Open Super Series title, after she defeated Nozomi Okuhara in the final. She had also won a silver medal at the Badminton World Championship in Glasgow after she lost in the final against the same opponent.
The current world number two was earlier conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award — the highest sporting honour in India — in 2016 and the Padma Shri in 2015. Last year, she also became the first Indian to win an Olympic silver medal in Badminton.
Honoured with the nomination, Hyderabadi based Sindhu thanked the ministry.
She said, “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.”
According to a report, Sindhu’s father PV Ramana also thanked the ministry for putting forth her name and hoped that his his daughter will win it.
“We thank the Sports Ministry. But, we have to wait and see (for the final announcement to be made),” Sindhu’s father PV Ramana said.