New Delhi: The Badminton Association of India on Tuesday recommended the names of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, and Sameer Verma for the Arjuna Award.

Satwik and Chirag have taken the Indian doubles game to unprecedented heights as they have established themselves as one of the best men’s doubles pairs in the world. The duo also managed to win the Thailand Open last year and they had also landed India a historic gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where they also won the men’s doubles silver.

The BAI has also recommended the renowned National Institute of Sports (NIS)-certified coaches, S. Murlidharan and Bhaskar Babu for the Dronacharya Award. Murlidharan has been working relentlessly for the growth and development of the sport in Kerala, besides being an able administrator.

Badminton Association of India (BAI) recommends Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty and Sameer Verma for Arjuna Award; S. Murlidharan and Bhaskar Babu recommended for Dronacharya Award

— ANI (@ANI) June 2, 2020

He has coached the likes of Vimal Kumar, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas amongst many other renowned former players. He has also been a recipient of the Meritorious Service Award given by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in 1996.

For the Dhyanchand Award, BAI has recommended the names of Pradeep Gandhe and Manjusha Kanwar.

Gandhe is a two-time Asian Games bronze medallist while Manjusha is a South Asian Games silver medallist. (ANI)