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India's star tennis player and men's doubles World No. 1 Rohan Bopanna, squash player Joshna Chinappa and former field hockey player Harbinder Singh are honoured with the Padma Shri award, the Centre announced on Thursday.
Bopanna at the age of 43, secured the top spot in the ATP rankings and became the oldest World No. 1 after surpassing Rajeev Ram of the USA, who held the first place at the age of 38 in October 2022. On Thursday, he sealed his place in the second consecutive final of the Australian Open in the men's doubles. Along with Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski, Bopanna won his maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, becoming only the fourth Indian to achieve such a feat in 2017. He went on to win a gold medal with Divij Sharan in the men's doubles at the 2018 Asian Games. Joshna Chinappa won a bronze medal along with Tanvi Khanna and Anahat Singh in the Hangzhou Asian Games. It was her fifth medal in the Asian Games, as her first medal (bronze) came in women's singles in the 2018 Jakarta Games. Her other three medals included one bronze and two silver medals in the team events. Harbinder Singh was a member of the gold medal team in 1966 and a silver medal winner as captain in 1970. He also participated in international hockey tournaments, which saw India triumph in Lyon, France in 1963 and Hamburg, West Germany in 1966. In 1986. Harbinder was chosen as chief coach of the bronze medal-winning women's team in the Asian Games. He was also a part of India's team that won the gold medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Other names who are bestowed with the Padma Shri Award in sports: International Mallakhamb coach Uday Vishwanath Deshpande, para-badminton team's head coach Gaurav Khanna, para swimmer Satendra Singh Lohia, archer and archery coach Purnima Mahato. (ANI)
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