New Delhi: For the second year running, Indian shuttler H.S. Prannoy has questioned the criteria used for recommending names for the Arjuna Award, given by the Government of India for outstanding achievements in sports.
Prannoy, a 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist in mixed team badminton and an Asian Championships bronze medallist in men’s singles, was not on the list of names recommended by the Badminton Association of India, which included doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and singles player Sameer Verma.
#arjunaawards Same old story. Guy who has Medals in Cwg and Asian Championships not even recommended by Association. And guy who was not there on any of these major events recommended #waah 🤝👏 #thiscountryisajoke
— PRANNOY HS (@PRANNOYHSPRI) June 2, 2020
Prannoy’s comments appear to be directed at Verma, since Rankireddy and Shetty won the Commonwealth Games mixed team gold and men’s doubles silver medals, apart from titles on the BWF World Tour.
In a press release, the BAI stated: “BAI has diligently assessed the performances of the athletes and coaches during the last four years before sending the names to the Sports Ministry for the recommendation.”
Last year too, Prannoy had taken to Twitter to express his disappointment and claimed that only connections help players get recommended for the award.
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
How Prannoy and Verma stack up
Prannoy had won a men’s singles bronze medal at the Asian Championships in Wuhan, China, in 2018. The same year, Prannoy also won the mixed team gold at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
According to the Badminton World Federation website, Prannoy’s world ranking for men’s singles stands at 28, and BWF World Tour ranking stands at 24.
Verma, meanwhile, didn’t have a good 2019, but had a stellar 2018. He began the year at world No.30, beat world No.2 Jan O Jorgensen to win the Swiss Open title, won the men’s singles title at the Hyderabad Open, and retained his Syed Modi International World Tour Super 300 title in Lucknow. He also qualified for the year-end BWF World Tour Finals 2018, where he made it to the semi-finals.
Verma’s world ranking in men’s singles now stands at 31. However, Prannoy’s charge that Verma hasn’t won CWG or Asian medals holds true.