‘Same Old Story’: HS Prannoy Slams Badminton Association of India for Arjuna Award Snub
On Tuesday, BAI had recommended country’s top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as well as men’s singles player Sameer Verma for this year’s Arjuna Awards. HS Prannoy questioned the selection criteria for these honours as he stated that players who have won nothing are nominated while those with medals in Asian and CWG have been neglected.
Shuttler HS Prannoy was displeased with the Badminton Association of India’s (BAI) recommended picks for the Arjuna Awards 2020 and also expressed his disappointment after being overlooked for the prestigious awards. The 27-year-old also questioned the selection criteria for these honours as he stated that players who have won nothing are nominated while those with medals in Asian and Commonwealth Games have been neglected. Badminton Association of India Recommends Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty and Sameer Verma for Arjuna Awards 2020.
On Tuesday, BAI had recommended country’s top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as well as men’s singles player Sameer Verma for this year’s Arjuna Awards. The governing body also nominated National Institute of Sports (NIS)-certified coaches S Murlidharan and Bhaskar Babu for the Dronacharya Award. BCCI Recommends Rohit Sharma for Khel Ratna Award; Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Deepti Sharma Nominated for Arjuna Awards.
‘'#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 wrote on his official Twitter handle.
Prannoy's Tweet
After the tweet, the 27-year-old found support from fellow shuttler Parupalli Kashyap as he asked him to ‘be strong’. ‘Never actually understood the system of applying for an award . I hope this changes . Be strong bro,’ Kashyap replied.
Support from Kashyap
This is not the first time that Prannoy has lashed out at the selection committee, as after being left out from the last year’s list 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. #arjunaawards.’
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 03, 2020 12:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).