Leander Paes and Pullela Gopichand to receive Padma Bhushan; Yuvraj Singh conferred with Padma Shri

Yuvraj Singh to receive Padma Shri award

Indian tennis player Leander Paes and badminton player-turned-coach Pullela Gopichand have been selected for the esteemed Padma Bhushan award while two-time cricket World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh is set to be conferred with the Padma Shri award.

Yuvraj is currently spending his time out of the national team owing to poor form. This would have come as really heartening news for him, and will likely serve as a morale booster for the mercurial southpaw who is aiming to seal a place in the team.

Yuvraj is one of seven sports personalities who have been selected for the Padma Shri award. The other six are squash player Dipika Pallikal, former Indian women’s cricket captain Anjum Chopra, Sunil Dabas (kabaddi), Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu (mountaineering), H Boniface Prabhu (wheelchair tennis) and Mamta Sodha (mountaineering).

While Paes, who has 14 Grand Slam titles to his name, is still actively participating in the doubles and mixed-doubles events in major tournaments around the world, Gopichand, the winner of the All England Badminton Championships in 2001, has been instrumental in the rise of many talented badminton players from the country since his retirement.

Gopichand was also involved in the setting up of the Indian Badminton League – an IPL style badminton tournament that kick-started last year.