Explosive cricketer Virender Sehwag, star boxer Vijender Singh and ace shuttler Saina Nehwal are among the six sportspersons who were selected for the Padma Shri awards today.
Apart from the trio, country's only Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan, hockey player Ignace Tirkey and cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar -- whose notable pupils include Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli -- were also selected for the award.
Incidentally, wrestler Sushil Kumar is the only Beijing Olympic medallist to miss out on a Padma award.
While Vijender -- who won bronze in Beijing -- won it this year, Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra had been awarded the Padma Bhushan award last year.
Talking to PTI, Vijender, who is leaving for exhibition bouts in China, said he expected the honour earlier but had no issues with it coming late.
"Better late than never. Every time I go out for a tour, I get a good news. I got a call this morning from the Ministry and told my parents and coaches about it," he said.
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"I'm happy and would celebrate when I return from China," added the Haryana boxer.
Saina, on her part, said country's highest civilian awards would goad her to greater glory.
"I would like to dedicate this achievement to my parents and coaches who have helped me a lot to improve my game," Saina said.