Sushil Kumar and Pankaj Advani recommended for Padma Bhushan
Indian cueist Pankaj Advani and ace wrestler Sushil Kumar have been recommended for the Padma Bhushan this year. The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the country after the Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan.
Often referred to as the ‘Golden Boy’ of India, snooker champion Pankaj Advani has also won back to back gold medals at the Asian Games in 2006 and 2010 respectively. He has a unique record of a hat-trick of hat-tricks in English billiards, holding the World, Asian, and Indian National Championship titles simultaneously, in three different years.
Wrestling in India especially in the last decade, has seen an upward curve and Sushil Kumar had a major hand in this. The Haryana grappler scripted history at the 2012 London Olympics, where he became the only Indian to win two medals after claiming a silver. Sushil was also the flag bearer at the opening ceremony ahead of Vijender Singh and Abhinav Bindra.
Jitu Rai, who recently got the Khel Ratna Award, also had a reason to celebrate after this name was recommended for Padma Shri. The 29-year-old shooter transcended from an unknown name to become the premier marksman in the country. He quickly rose to be ranked Number 1 in the ISSF World Pistol Rankings and continued scaling new peaks by winning the gold medal in both Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. He will certainly be looking to add an Olympic medal to his already illustrious medals list in Tokyo.
Former Indian No. 1 paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal is also in contention for this award. Two sportspersons – tennis star Sania Mirza and shuttler Saina Nehwal – were awarded the Padma Bhushan for their outstanding contribution to sports last year.
Let’s take a look at other Indian sportspersons who have got the award over the years:
| PLAYER NAME | FIELD | STATE | YEAR |
| Cottari Nayudu | Cricket | Andra Pradesh | 1956 |
| Dhyan Chand | Hockey | Punjab | 1956 |
| Mohan Singh Kohli | Mountain Climbing | Delhi | 1965 |
| Nawang Gombu | Mountain Climbing | West Bengal | 1965 |
| Mihir Sen | Swimming | West Bengal | 1967 |
| Ramanathan Krishnan | Tennis | Tamil Nadu | 1967 |
| Vinoo Mankand | Cricket | Gujarat | 1973 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | Cricket | Maharashtra | 1980 |
| Raja Bhalendra Singh | Cricket | Delhi | 1983 |
| Michael Ferreira | English billiards | Maharashtra | 1984 |
| Dinkar Balwant Deodhar | Cricket | Maharashtra | 1991 |
| Kapil Dev | Cricket | Delhi | 1991 |
| Viswanathan Anand | Chess | Tamil Nadu | 2001 |
| Chandu Borde | Cricket | Maharashtra | 2002 |
| Vijaypat Singhania | Hot Air ballon | Maharashtra | 2006 |
| Abhinav Bindra | Shooting | Maharashtra | 2009 |
| Rahul Dravid | Cricket | Karnataka | 2013 |
| Mary Kom | Boxing | Manipur | 2013 |
| Pullela Gopichand | Badminton | Andhra Pradesh | 2014 |
| Leander Paes | Tennis | Maharashtra | 2014 |
| Satpal Singh | Wrestling | Delhi | 2015 |
| Sania Mirza | Tennis | Telengana | 2016 |
| Saina Nehwal | Badminton | Telengana | 2016 |