Saina Nehwal Saina Nehwal

Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal has been left disappointed after the Sports Ministry decided to reject her application for the prestigious Padma Bhushan award this year, citing norms.

Badminton Association of India (BAI) had recommended Saina's name for the award to the Sports Ministry in August last year but the ministry picked two-time Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar as it felt he was a more deserving candidate.

"I heard that Sushil Kumar's name was sent for Padma award as a special case, while my name was not sent to Ministry of home affairs by sports ministry. The ministry guidelines says that there needs to be a gap of five years between two Padma awards. So if they can send his name, why they didn't recommend my name as I have completed the five years gap. I felt bad about it," Saina, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2010, told PTI.

The 24-year-old claimed that her application was rejected last year also on similar grounds but this year, the ministry decided to recommend Sushil's name even though he has not completed the five-year norm after being bestowed with the Padma Shri in 2011.

"Last year when I had sent my file for the Padma Bhushan award, the ministry said 'No Saina you can't apply this year because you have to complete five years for this.' So I again applied this year for the award. So why my name was not recommended this year?," she asked.



In a series of tweets, Saina criticised the decision:



Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 2, 2015

I hope sports ministry look up to this and I will be more than happy if both me and Sushil gets the award as we both won medals in 2012 Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 2, 2015

I won the commonwealth games gold in 2010 and I m world number 4. As a player we feel good when we get such a great award and it motivates . Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 2, 2015

Sports ministry and he is not completed 5 years as a special case but even i won the Olympic bronze medal in 2012 and won many titles in2014 Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 2, 2015

Sports ministry and he is not completed 5 years as a special case but even i won the Olympic bronze medal in 2012 and won many titles in2014 Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 2, 2015

When I sent my file in 2014 for the Padma Bhushan award the ministry said u have to follow the rules and submit the application after 5 Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 2, 2015

I got the Padma Shri in 2010 and there is a policy that u can get the next Padma award only after 5 years and this year I completed my five Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 2, 2015

Olympics . But I think rule is rule for me they said u have to wait for 5 years to get the award .