Sania Mirza is having an incredible year, just after winning a major gran slam, very recently her name was tossed up for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award – the most respected sports honour in the nation for civilians.
Sania Mirza’s Name Proposed For Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award :
Sania will be the second tennis player ever, after Leander Paes, to be named for the nation’s highest sporting honour.
This honour will add another feather in the much celebrated tennis star’s feathered cap. She is right now positioned number one in women’s doubles category, alongside her team mate Martina Hingis. Her latest win was the prestigious Wimbledon trophy in the women’s doubles category. This achievement alone isn’t what she has achieved so far – she has already won the Australian Open (2009), French Open (2012) and US Open (2014).
Sania was additionally honoured a gold and a bronze award in the mixed and women’s doubles category classifications in the 2014 Asian Games.
Her other outstanding achievements fetched her Arjuna award in 2004 and the Padma Shri in 2006 – the fourth most elevated civilian honour in the nation.
Sania’s name was discussed along with the extraordinary talents in men/women, including, squash star Dipika Pallikal, discus thrower Vikas Gowda and Seema Punia, hockey team skipper Sardar Singh and shuttle player Kidambi Srikanth.
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is India’s most prestigious honour given for achievements and accomplishments in sports, given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. The words “Khel Ratna” actually signify “sports gem” in Hindi. This prestigious award is named after the former Prime Minister of India, late Rajiv Gandhi,. It consists a medal of honour, a scroll of honour and a considerable cash prize. Up to 2004–05, the money part was Rs. 500,000/ – . In 2005, the amount of cash has been increased from Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 750,000.
This honour comes at the right time as a lot of people in India commented Sania Mirza’s loyalty to this nation after she married Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik.