Olympic medalist PV Sindhu receives Padma Bhushan, India's 3rd highest civilian award

Indian badminton player PV Sindhu has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in the country. Sindhu's name was originally announced on the eve of India's 71st Republic Day in January 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other restrictions imposed to control the outbreak of the pandemic, the physical conferral was delayed. On Monday, President Ram Nath Kovind finally presented the award to the two-time Olympic medal-winning player. The ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. 

Padma Bhushan 2020 winners list

• M Mumtaz Ali (Others)
• Syed Muazzem Ali (Public Affairs)
• Muzaffar Hussain Baig (Public Affairs)
• Ajoy Chakrabarty (Art)
• Manoj Das (Literature)
• Balkrishna Doshi (Others)
• Krishnammal Jagannathan (Social Work)
• SC Jamir (Public Affairs)
• Anil Prakash Joshi (Social Work)
• Tsering Landol (Medicine)
• Anand Mahindra (Trade & Industry)
• Nellakanta Ramakrishna Madhava Menon (Public Affairs)
• Manohar Parrikar (Public Affairs) 
• Jagdish Sheth (Literature)
• PV Sindhu (Sports)
• Venu Srinivasan (Trade & Industry)

Sindhu's medal tally

Earlier this year, Sindhu won a bronze medal in her second consecutive Olympic appearance for India. She won the bronze at the Tokyo Games in August and thus became the first-ever Indian woman athlete to win two Olympic medals. She had won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The 26-year-old from Hyderabad has won two silver and two bronze medals before securing the gold medal at the 2019 World Championships in Basel. She has also won a silver (2018) and bronze (2014) medal at the Commonwealth Games in women's singles besides the team gold three years ago. She is also the recipient of other major awards, including the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award and Padma Shri, India's third-highest civilian award. 

(Image: AP)