Indian Athletes Honoured with Padma Awards

Indian hockey legend PR Sreejesh was honoured with the Padma Bhushan on Saturday while cricket icon Ravichandran Ashwin was among four recipients of the Padma Shri from the world of sport. Former India men's hockey captain Sreejesh isn't the only athlete from Kerala among the list of recipients as renowned footballer IM Vijayan was also among those winning the Padma Shri.

Sreejesh has been conferred with India's third-highest civilian award nearly six months after playing an important role in helping the nation win its second consecutive Olympic bronze medal in August. The 36-year-old, nicknamed the 'Great Wall of India', had brought his glittering 18-year international career to a fitting end after the Harmanpreet Singh-led and Craig Fulton-coached side defeated Spain 2-1 in the Paris 2024 bronze playoff.

Sreejesh, who hails from Kizhakkambalam near Kochi, was also part of the Indian team that had won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which was India's first Olympic bronze in more than four decades. He has also won gold medals at the Asian Games in 2014 and 2022 and was adjudged the FIH Goalkeeper of the Year a record three times (2020, 2022, and 2024).

Besides Ashwin and Vijayan, para-archer Harvinder Singh and para-athletics coach Satyapal Singh have been named for the Padma Shri – India's fourth-highest civilian award.

A total of four athletes and a para-athletics coach have been included in the list of 139 recipients of the civilian awards on Saturday.

Ashwin, who had taken the cricketing world by surprise by announcing his international retirement midway during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, collected more than 700 wickets in his storied 14-year international career, including 537 in Tests, making him the second-highest by an Indian and the eighth-highest overall in the format.

Ashwin was also a handy batter down the order, scoring 3,503 runs at an average of 25.75 including six centuries and 14 half-centuries.

Vijayan, a legendary striker from Thrissur, is considered to be one of India's greatest footballers of all time, having scored 29 goals from 72 appearances for the Blue Tigers in an 11-year international career and representing iconic teams such as Mohun Bagan and East Bengal in a club career that spanned nearly two decades.

"It is a great honor for me, especially as I approach my retirement from police service. I dedicate this award to football lovers across India and the world," Vijayan told the media on Saturday.

Harvinder had become the first Indian para-archer to win Paralympic gold in the Paris 2024 Games in September, in which the nation had won a staggering 29 medals including seven gold.

Satyapal, meanwhile, had coached para-high jumper Praveen Kumar – who was among four athletes to win the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award – to gold at the Paralympics.

A total of seven Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awardees have been included in the final list.