President Ramnath Kovind on Monday presented 55 of the 112 Padma awards – a Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan and 46 Padma Shri – to distinguished personalities from different fields.
And among the awardees present at the ceremony were wrestler Bajrang Punia, India kabaddi team captain Ajay Thakur, table tennis star Sharath Kamal and chess player Harika Dronavalli – who were conferred with the Padmi Shri awards for sports, the fourth highest civilian honour.
Punia, who bagged golds at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games last year, has won four gold medals and one silver in the last five tournaments.
Thakur, who has over 14 years of professional experience as a top level player, has become the first kabaddi player to receive the prestigious award.
Grandmaster Dronavalli is among the world's top ranked chess players and has lead Indian women squads to several chess championships
The 36-year-old tennis star Kamal has won 9 CWG medals and two Asian Game medals bagged a gold, silver and two bronze medals at the 2018 edition of the CWG.
Among the other sportspersons who are to receive the Padma awards are Bachendri Pal (Mountaineering), Sunil Chhetri (Football), Gautam Gambhir (Cricket), Bombayla Devi Laishram (Archery) and Prashanti Singh (Basketball).
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