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What's the story?
Ace Indian badminton player Srikanth Kidambi and one of India's best tennis stars, Somdev Devvarman were conferred with the Padma Shri Award, India's fourth highest civilian award for their excellence in sport while 2017 World Weightlifting champion Saikhom Mirabai Chanu was also awarded the Padma Shri.
In a historic moment, India's first-ever Paralympic Gold medallist Murlikant Petkar, who clinched the gold medal at the freestyle swimming event in the 1972 Summer Paralympics was also awarded the Padma Shri while ex-Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Billiards star Pankaj Advani were conferred with the Padma Bhushan.
In case you didn't know...
Every year, imminent sports stars are conferred with the awards such as the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan for their continued excellence and contribution to India's continual growth in the field of sports.
In 2017, Indian Skipper Virat Kohli along with the Rio Paralympics medallist duo of Mariyappan Thangavelu and Deepa Malik as well as Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik bagged the prestigious Padma Shri.
The heart of the matter
Kidambi Srikanth, who is perched second in the BWF rankings, had a stellar run last season having clinched six titles which comprised of four Super Series titles. Starting off with a title victory from the Indonesia Super Series, Srikanth followed it up with wins in the Australian Super Series, Denmark, and French Super Series as well.
33-year old Devarrman, who is a 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist also received the Padma Shri, seven years after receiving the Arjuna Award in 2011 while Murlikant Petkar, who is infamous for his commendable effort in the 1972 Summer Paralympics, where he made his presence felt in the finals of the Javelin throw, Precision Javelin Throw, and Slalom events apart from clinching gold in the 50m freestyle event was also a recipient of the award.
Manipuri's Mirabai Chanu, who lifted a record a world record 194kg to clinch the top honors at the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships held in the USA was also awarded the Padma Shri.
One of India's favorite cricketing sons, MS Dhoni, who was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award following his triumph in the T20 World Cup and the Padma Shri two years later, in 2009 was awarded the Padma Bhushan while Pankan Advani, who has enjoyed a glittering career in Snooker/Billiards and is a two-time Asian Games champion was also bestowed with the third-highest civilian award.
What's next?
The Indian contingent is set to take part in the Commonwealth Games due to be held in Australia this April and, with a lot of depth in the squad as well as strong contributions from various other sports, a lot of fresh faces could be penned down to receive the award the coming year.
Author's take
The awards have undoubtedly laid out a platform which has given each sports star of the country an impetus to push harder and excel in whichever sport they represent the country.
