After learning that he was left out for the prestigious Arjuna award, Indian badminton star HS Prannoy expressed his displeasure on social media app Twitter on Saturday.
Notably, 12-member selection committee headed by Justice (Retd) Mukundakam Sharma announced on Saturday the two names nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award along with 19 others who were named for the Arjuna award.
Meanwhile, Prannoy lashed out on being overlooked. He said: “If you ever want your name in the Awards list, make sure you have people who will get your name to the list. Performance is least considered in our country. Sad state of our county but can’t help it. Let go and just play until you can.”
If you ever want your name in the Awards list , make sure you have people who will get your name to the list. Performance is least considered in our country. Sad state of our county but can’t help it. Let go and just play until you can. #arjunaawards
— PRANNOY HS (@PRANNOYHSPRI) August 17, 2019
Interestingly, a Badminton Association of India (BAI) source said it did not recommend Prannoy’s name for the Arjuna Award to the Sports Ministry on the ground that he did not have any creditable performance last year.
“BAI had recommended Sai Praneeth and Manu Attri for the Arjuna Award. Prannoy had also sent his application but it was not considered since he did not have the performance last year,” a BAI source told PTI.
The 27-year-old Prannoy had won a gold in the mixed team event in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He also won a bronze medal in the men’s singles in the 2018 Asian Championships. He also won a bronze in the men’s team event in the 2016 Asian Team Championships. He reached to world number 8 in the BWF rankings in May last year.
As per guidelines, to be eligible for the Arjuna award, a sportsperson should not only have had good performance consistently for the previous four years at the international level with excellence for the year for which the Award is recommended, but should also have shown qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
(With inputs from PTI)