P.R. Sreejesh chosen for Padma Bhushan; Ravichandran Ashwin, Vijayan amongst 4 in sports activities to get Padma Shri

Former males’s hockey captain P. R. Sreejesh was chosen for the Padma Bhushan, whereas recently-retired cricket star Ravichandran Ashwin was among the many Padma Shri winners as 4 athletes and a para-athletics coach figured within the checklist of 139 that was unveiled for the coveted civilian awards on Saturday (January 25, 2025).

Legendary Indian footballer I. M. Vijayan and India’s first Paralympic gold medal-winning archer Harvinder Singh too have been named for the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour.

Full checklist of Padma Awards 2025

Para athletics coach Satyapal Singh, who mentored Paris Paralympics gold-winning and Khel Ratna-awardee high-jumper Praveen Kumar, would even be bestowed with the Padma Shri.

“It is [award] due to the religion reposed in me by so many individuals. I’ve been related to Praveen Kumar since 2018 and a whole lot of credit score goes to my ward for this award,” Satyapal informed PTI.

The 5 have been picked for the Padma awards by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of the 76th Republic Day.

The 36-year-old Sreejesh, who retired after profitable a second successive Olympic bronze with the nationwide group in Paris Olympics, is presently the top coach of the junior males’s group.

Thought-about one of many biggest hockey goalkeepers of all instances, Sreejesh had a stellar position in India’s Olympic resurgence. He performed a whopping 336 video games in his profession that spanned 18 years and in addition yielded two Asian Video games gold medals.

Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian honour after Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan.

Off-spin nice Ashwin, 38, bid adieu to worldwide cricket throughout the Border-Gavaskar collection in Australia in December final 12 months, ending as India’s second highest wicket-taker in Assessments with 537 scalps in 106 video games.

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The Chennai-star, who will proceed to compete within the IPL and different home occasions, was part of India’s 2011 ODI World Cup-winning and the 2013 Champions Trophy-winning groups.

He was named within the ICC’s Check group of the last decade for the 2011 to 2020 interval, highlighting his stellar position in India’s success.

The 33-year-old Harvinder, whose legs have been impaired as a result of uncomfortable side effects of ill-advised injections for therapy of dengue when he was a toddler, clinched gold within the Paris Paralympics final 12 months within the particular person recurve open class.

Hailing from a household of farmers in Ajit Nagar, Haryana had additionally gained a bronze in Tokyo in 2021.

Throughout the COVID-19 lockdown, his father turned their farm into an archery vary to help his coaching. In recurve open class, archers shoot from a standing place at a distance of 70m at a 122cm goal made up of 10 concentric circles, scoring from 10 factors all the way down to 1 level from the centre outwards.

The 55-year-old Vijayan led India from 2000 to 2004 and fashioned a formidable strike drive with the immensely common Bhaichung Bhutia on the peak of his prowess.

On the membership degree, he had memorable stints with Mohun Bagan, Kerala Police, the now defunct FC Cochin and JCT Mills Phagwara.

He joins the likes of different legendary footballers Gostho Paul (1962), Sailen Manna (1971), Chuni Goswami (1983), PK Banerjee (1990), Bhutia (2008), Sunil Chhetri (2019) and Bembem Devi (2020) and Brahmanand Sankhwalkar (2022) to obtain the celebrated award.

Hailing from Kerala, Vijayan bestowed the Arjuna award in 2003. He was additionally awarded the Indian Participant of the 12 months in 1993, 1997 and 1999.

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Nicknamed the ‘Black Buck’ due to a 1998 biopic on him known as ‘Kalo Harin’, the previous India striker, who made his nationwide debut within the early 90s, scored 40 targets in 79 matches for India.

He was part of the Indian group that gained SAFF Championships in 1993, 1997 and 1999.

The Padma awards are given for distinguished companies to public throughout fields.

This 12 months’s annual honours’ checklist contains seven Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri award-winners.