Mary Kom, PV Sindhu feature in Sports Ministry's all woman list for Padma Awards

New Delhi, Sep 12: Six-time world champion boxer MC Mary Kom and ace shuttler PV Sindhu are amongst nine women who are in the race for the Padma awards this year. The Sports Ministry has sent nine names for the prestigious awards.

The Padma awards are the country's highest honour after the Bharat Ratna. Mary Kom has already been bestowed with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri in 2013 and 2006 respectively.

PV Sindhu, the reigning world badminton champion, has been nominated for the Padma Bhushan. She was recommended for this award in 2017 but failed to make it to the list. The Rio Olympic silver medallist was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015.

Sindhu won the BWF World Badminton Championship in Basel recently and became the first Indian shuttler to bag a gold medal at the event. The Hyderabadi shuttler had won a couple of silver medals at the world championship in the past changed the colour of the medal this time around by defeating Japan's Nozomi Okuhara.

Among the list of recommendations for the Padma Shri, the ministry has sent the names of Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling), Harmanpreet Kaur (Cricket), Rani Rampal (Hockey), Tashi and Nungshi Malik (Mountaineering), Manika Batra (Table Tennis) and Puma Shirur (Shooting).

The recommendations have been sent to the Home Ministry and name of the recipients would be announced on the eve of the Republic Day celebrations next year.