New Delhi: Tennis star Rohan Bopanna, veteran squash player Joshna Chinappa along with six other athletes are selected for the prestigious Padma Shri honour by the government. Bopanna has been crowned world number one in the doubles format.
Bopanna is a consistent performer in Tennis for India and he will be the oldest number one after the new rankings announcement.
After gaining experience in both singles and doubles at the junior and senior ITF levels, Bopanna, known as ‘Bops’ in the Indian tennis circuit, turned professional in 2003.
The right-hander with a single-handed backhand, became a prominent topic on the front page of newspapers around the globe because of his men’s doubles partnership with Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.
For several years, the pair gained prominence as the ‘Indo-Pak Express’ and made an early impact when finished runner-up in the 2010 US Open. Their message of “Stop War, Start Tennis” a decade back had earned Bopanna and Qureshi a reputation as peace ambassadors.
Though their partnership lasted from 2003 to 2014, they reunited as a pair for a few events in 2021, the ‘Indo-Pak Express’ won five ATP doubles titles and reached the final of the 2010 US Open.
Bopanna, along with Qureshi, was honoured with the ‘Champion for Peace’ by the Monaco-based organization, Peace and Sport in 2010.
In all, Bopanna has won 24 career doubles titles in all and has finished runner-up in the ATP World Tour Finals in 2012 and 2015, and represented the country in two Olympic Games, reaching the mixed doubles semifinal in the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian honour after Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, and Padma Bhushan. Padma Shri is given for distinguished service in any field.
Apart from Bopanna and Chinappa, Harbinder Singh, Purnima Mahato, Satendra Singh Lohia, Gaurav Khanna and Uday Vishwanath Deshpande are all set to receive the Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian honours in the country.
Bopanna, 43, is only the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam trophy, a mixed doubles title he won with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski at the French Open in 2017.
The 37-year-old Joshna has won multiple medals at Asian Games and two-time CWG medallist. She has also won four medals at World Championships in the doubles, including a gold in 2022.
Other athletes, who have been selected for the honour are hockey player Harbinder Singh and Uday Deshpande, who is a practitioner of Mallakhmab, an indigenous sport.
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