Saina Nehwal gets Khel Ratna award

Badminton ace Saina Nehwal, whose phenomenal rise was highlighted by three top-flight international titles recently, was conferred the coveted Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award at a glittering ceremony in New Delhi on Sunday. Saina's achievements in the past one year made her an automatic choice for the prestigious award, the highest sporting honour in the country. An Arjuna awardee last year, Saina rose to number two in world rankings and also completed a hat-trick of international titles, including back-to-back Super Series victories in Singapore and Indonesia in June.
List of the awardees:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Saina Nehwal (Badminton).
Arjuna Awards:
Joseph Abraham, Krishna Poonia (both Athletics), Dinesh Kumar (Boxing), Parimrajan Negi (Chess), Julan Goswami (Women's Cricket), Deepak Kumar Mandal (Football), Sandeep Singh (Men's Hockey), Jasjeet Kaur Handa (Women's Hockey), Dinesh Kumar (Kabaddi), Sanjeev Rajput (Shooting), Rehan Jehangir Poncha (Swimming), Kapil Dev KJ (Volleyball), Rajeev Tomar (Wrestling), Rajesh Chaudhary (Yachting), Jagseer Singh (Para- Olympics athletics).
Dhyan Chand Awards:
Satish Pillai (Athletics), Kuldeep Singh (Wrestling), Anita Chanu (Weightlifting).
Dronacharya Awards:
A K Kutty (Athletics), Subhash B Aggarwal (Billiards and Snooker), L Ibomcha Singh (Boxing), Ajay Kumar Bansal (Hockey), Captain Chandrup (Wrestling).
Rashtriya Khel Protsahana Puruskar:
Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), Tata Steel Limited, Khel Evam Yuva Vibhag (Government of Madhya Pradesh)