Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri, Kabaddi player Ajay Thakur among 112 recipients of Padma awards

Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri and Indian cricketer were among the eight sportsperson who will get Padma Shri this year. It was announced by the Ministry of Home affairs on Friday. The other sports personalities are Bajrang Punia (Wrestling), Prashanti Singh (Basketball), Sharath Kamal (Table Tennis), Harika Dronavalli (Chess), L Bombayla Devi (Archery) and Ajay Thakur (Kabaddi).

The Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award after, Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan.

Padma Awards were given to individuals who excelled in the field of sports, science, arts, literature, medicine, social work etc. since their inception in 1954. A total of 225 Padma Awards (including one Bharat Ratna) were given to Sportspersons between 1954 and 2018. Of them, 192 are Padma Shri, 29 are Padma Bhushan, 3 are Padma Vibhushan & one Bharat Ratna. Sachin Tendulkar received the Bharat Ratna, while he along with Vishwanathan Anand & Edmund Hillary received the Padma Vibhushan.

Out of 112 recipients, 21 are women, 11 are foreigners, three posthumous awardees and one transgender who have received the award this year. Bollywood actor Kader Khan and Manoj Bajpayee are also among the recipients of the award, Choreographer Prabhu Deva and singer Shankar Mahadevan are also in the list.