The year just keeps getting better for young Indian shuttler PV Sindhu. After winning the silver at the World Championships and then becoming the first Indian to bag the Korea Open Super Series title, Sindhu has now been nominated by the Sports Ministry for the prestigious Padma Bhushan, the country's third highest civilian award.
She is the second Indian sports person to be recommended for the award after MS Dhoni’s name too was put forward last week.
The 22-year-old from Hyderabad has been on a roll since the Rio Olympics last year where she became the first Indian woman to win an individual silver at the Olympic Games.
Since that career high, Sindhu bagged the China Open Super Series Premier title in November and then reached the finals of the Hong Kong Open before finishing the year as the World number six.
The two-time World Championship bronze medallist started 2017 with a win in her first outing, the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold tournament. In April, she beat her victor from the Olympics, Carolina Marin 21-19, 21-16 to win the India Open Super Series. A few early exits but Sindhu made a strong recovery in the second half of the year - reaching the finals of the World Championships in Glasgow and then claiming her third Super Series title at Korea Open earlier this September.
Riding on a series of good performances, Sindhu achieved a career-best world ranking of number two in April for a brief period. Last week, she climbed back to her number two position, following a good week at Seoul.
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