Yumnam Sanathoi receives Arjuna award
Sania Mirza conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
Source: The Sangai Express / Agencies

New Delhi, August 29 2015 : Wushu athlete Yumnam Sanathoi of Manipur was among the 17 players who were conferred the Arjuna Award 2015 while tennis star Sania Mirza was awarded the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- the country's highest sporting honour -- in a glittering ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Sanathoi Devi (26 years) had recently bagged a bronze medal in Wushu (Shanshou 52 kg category) in the 17th Asian Games held at Incheon, South Korea.

Her other main achievements in wushu are she won a bronze medal in the 2014 World Cup held at Indonesia and silver medal in World Championships in 2011 and 2013.A resident of Yairipok Top Chingtha village in Thoubal district of Manipur, she won a bronze medal at the recently concluded Incheon Asian Games.

Sanathoi took up Wushu, a traditional Chinese martial arts in 2003 under the guidance of Maibam Surbala Devi and later under Moirangthem Ibomcha Meitei.

She later availed training by the Sports Authority of India.

President, Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Arjuna Award for the year-2015 to Y Sanathoi Devi for Wushu

President Pranab Mukherjee presented the award to Sania, clad in a maroon saree and blue blazer, amid thunderous applause at the Darbar hall where sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal was among the attendees.

Sania became the second tennis player to receive the country's highest sporting honour after Leander Paes on a day when sports ministry was fighting a court case that raised questions against its process of selecting the awardees.

The President also gave away the Arjuna awards even as the line-up was low on star power in the absence of cricketer Rohit Sharma, who missed the ceremony alongside boxer Mandeep Jangra and quarter miler M R Poovamma.

In all, the (retired) Justice V K Bali led panel had recommended 17 names for Arjuna.

Sania, who attracted the loudest applause from the esteemed gathering at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, received a medal, certificate and cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh.

She had flown in just to receive the award ahead of the US Open starting in New York on Monday.

The Arjuna awardees received statuettes, certificates and award money of Rs.5 lakh each.

The ceremony, however, was shrouded in controversy with the ignored athletes and coaches not accepting the recommendations of the ministry-appointed panel.

Just when it seemed there would be no controversy in the lead up to this year's function, para-athlete H N Girisha approached the Karnataka High Court challenging Sania's recommendation for Khel Ratna.

While Girisha will still be hopeful of getting the award later, another court case pending is of wrestling coach Vinod Kumar, who went to Delhi high court claiming he was more deserving for the Dronacharya award than his rival Anoop Singh, whose name was recommended by the government-appointed panel.

It will be known in the next weeks whether he gets the Dronacharya or not.

Nonetheless, the ceremony provided pride and motivation for athletes who were eventually bestowed with the honour.

While Khel Ratna was awarded after a year's gap, 17 were recommended for Arjuna against the usual number of 15 or less.