Hyderabad: Former men's hockey captain and legendary goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, while recently retired cricket star Ravichandran Ashwin is among the recipients of the Padma Shri. This announcement was made on Saturday, revealing a total of 139 individuals honoured with these prestigious civilian awards.
In addition to Sreejesh and Ashwin, legendary Indian footballer I.M. Vijayan and India's first Paralympic gold medal-winning archer, Harvinder Singh, have also been named for the Padma Shri, which is the fourth highest civilian honour in India.
Additionally, para-athletics coach Satyapal Singh, who mentored high-jumper Praveen Kumar—winner of a gold medal at the Paris Paralympics and a Khel Ratna award—will also receive the Padma Shri.
"It's (award) because of the faith reposed in me by so many people. I have been associated with Praveen Kumar since 2018 and a lot of credit goes to my ward for this award," Satyapal told PTI.
The five were picked for the Padma awards by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of the 76th Republic Day.
The 36-year-old Sreejesh, who retired after winning a second successive Olympic bronze with the national team in the Paris Olympics, is currently the head coach of the junior men's team.
Considered one of the greatest hockey goalkeepers of all time, Sreejesh had a stellar role in India's Olympic resurgence. He played a whopping 336 games in his career that spanned 18 years and also yielded two Asian Games gold medals. Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian honour after Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan.
Off-spin great Ashwin, 38, bid adieu to international cricket during the Border-Gavaskar series in Australia in December last year, finishing as India's second-highest wicket-taker in Tests with 537 scalps in 106 games.
The Chennai star, who will continue to compete in the IPL and other domestic events, was a part of India's 2011 ODI World Cup-winning and the 2013 Champions Trophy-winning teams. He was named in the ICC's Test team of the decade for the 2011 to 2020 period, highlighting his stellar role in India's success.
The 33-year-old Harvinder, whose legs were impaired due to side effects of ill-advised injections for treatment of dengue when he was a toddler, clinched gold in the Paris Paralympics last year in the individual recurve open category.
Hailing from a family of farmers in Ajit Nagar, Haryana had also won a bronze in Tokyo in 2021.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, his father turned their farm into an archery range to support his training. In recurve open class, archers shoot from a standing position at a distance of 70m at a 122cm target made up of 10 concentric circles, scoring from 10 points down to 1 point from the centre outwards.
The 55-year-old Vijayan led India from 2000 to 2004 and formed a formidable strike force with the immensely popular Bhaichung Bhutia at the peak of his prowess.
At the club level, he had memorable stints with Mohun Bagan, Kerala Police, the now-defunct FC Cochin and JCT Mills Phagwara.
He joins the likes of other legendary footballers Gostho Paul (1962), Sailen Manna (1971), Chuni Goswami (1983), PK Banerjee (1990), Bhutia (2008), Sunil Chhetri (2019) and Bembem Devi (2020) and Brahmanand Sankhwalkar (2022) to receive the prestigious award.
Hailing from Kerala, Vijayan was bestowed the Arjuna Award in 2003. He was also awarded the Indian Player of the Year in 1993, 1997 and 1999.
Nicknamed the 'Black Buck' because of a 1998 biopic on him called 'Kalo Harin', the former India striker, who made his national debut in the early 90s, scored 40 goals in 79 matches for India.
He was a part of the Indian team that won the SAFF Championships in 1993, 1997 and 1999. The Padma awards are given for distinguished services to the public across fields.
This year's annual honours list comprises seven Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri award-winners.
