Budding shuttler Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was conferred with the prestigious Arjuna Award by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday.
Notably, Jitendra Singh presented the shuttler with a statuette, citation as well as a cash prize of Rs 5 lakhs on the occasion of the governing body meeting of Sports Authority of India.
Unfortunately, Sindhu had missed the opportunity to receive the award from Honorable President of India Pranab Mukhejee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 31st August as she was busy playing in the final of the Indian Badminton league (IBL).
In fact, the 18-year-old became the first Indian woman shuttler to win a bronze medal at the World Championships last month. In addition, her excellent victories over the defending champion Yihan Wang apart from Asian Games gold medalist Shixian Wang en route the final four at the World Championships had enabled Sindhu to clinch the 12th rank and crash into top 10.
Moreover, Sindhu won her maiden Grand Prix Gold title when she captured the women's singles trophy in the Malaysia Open badminton at Kuala Lumpur in May.
Particularly, it was last year when the Hyderabadi came forward as a giant-killer, just like Saina Nehwal, when she won the Asian Youth under-19 Championship.
