Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi to be felicitated by Sports Ministry

After an extremely positive end to India’s campaign at the Badminton World Championships, the Sports Minister today announced his plans to felicitate the most prominent of the country’s badminton players.

In a tweet, Vijay Goel announced his intention early today morning. PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth Kidambi are eligible for this honour. Vimal Kumar and Pullela Gopichand will also be felicitated. The option for streaming the ceremony on one’s mobile phone has been made available.

Felicitation Ceremony for our #Badminton Stars @Pvsindhu1 @NSaina @srikidambi with coach P.Gopichand & Vimal Kr. Watch LIVE on your mobile! pic.twitter.com/lZL814T8Ww

— Vijay Goel (@VijayGoelBJP) August 30, 2017

Badminton is a sport that has received quite a lot of attention in recent times. Since PV Sindhu reached the finals of the Rio 2016 Olympics, her progress has been unstoppable. If, as viewers, you found the Olympic final exciting, the final match of the BWF Worlds was beyond all imagination.

With pulsating rallies and brilliant comebacks, PV Sindhu and Nozomi Okuhara made sure to make the match retained its entertainment value as, more than once, it had the audience hanging off the edge of their seats in anticipation. In fact, there was a 73-shot rally for a single point as both players matched each others power and skill equally.

Saina Nehwal, on the other hand, made a comeback barely a year after going into a horrific injury which nearly ended her career. This was the first edition of the tournament which saw two Indian shuttlers finish at the podium- a fact which is further testament to the growth the sport has witnessed in recent times.

Srikanth Kidambi has been touted as one of India’s recent success stories after he won two Superseries tournaments within the span of a month. He made his mark in the first two games in the World Championships but failed to progress beyond the finals.

When compared to the other World Championship tournaments that India have participated in in the past few weeks, the success of badminton has certainly stood out. Wrestling especially has been quite disappointing with no Indian grappler managing to win in two consecutive bouts together.

Sports Minister Vijay Goel’s move is quite praiseworthy. Athlete achievements often fail to garner the necessary limelight in most cases. It is certainly heartening to note that badminton will not be going the same way.