For the first time, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) has recommended to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, a distinguished badminton player for the Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games.
The BAI has suggested the name of 62-year-old Sanjay Sharma — former India captain, coach, writer, author and TV commentator — for the prestigious award that is likely to be announced next month.
Winner of the national men’s doubles title with Pradeep Gandhe in 1978, Sanjay represented India from 1975-1990, was the captain of the Indian team for the Asian championship in 1989 and the CWG in 1990. He was the national coach from 1998 to 2003.
Record
Sanjay has played in four Thomas Cup editions, four Asian championships and represented Maharashtra for 19 years. He has won a record seven State championship titles and was honoured with the Shiv Chhatrapati award in 1982.
He has coached two-time national men’s winner Rajiv Bagga (a hearing impaired player) and Arjuna Awardee Sandeep Dhillon.
After his active playing days, Sanjay, as a freelance journalist, wrote around 1500 articles, features, interviews and match reports for many periodicals, including The Hindu. He has been a commentator for Star Sports and DD Sports from 1992. He has authored two books, including Pullela Gopichand The World Beneath His Feet.