Rohan Bopanna has been honoured with the Padma Shri just days after attaining the top spot in the ATP Men's Doubles ranking.
The prestigious Padma awards list, released on January 25, includes eight individuals from the sports field, with squash player Joshna Chinappa joining Bopanna in receiving the recognition.
Other awardees from the sports arena are Harbinder Singh, Purnima Mahato, Satendra Singh Lohia, Gaurav Khanna, and Uday Vishwanath Deshpande.
Bopanna-Ebden, seeded second, scored a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7) win over Zhang Zhizhen and Tomas Machac in the semi-final on Thursday.
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This is the second straight Grand Slam final for the Indo-Australian pair.
Bopanna-Ebden had also made it to the 2023 US Open final, where they lost 6-2, 3-6, 4-6 to Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.
On Wednesday, the Indian had already secured his position at the top of the ATP men's doubles rankings. At 43, he became the oldest first-time World No 1. But Bopanna is yet to win a men's doubles Grand Slam.
MORE: From singles wilderness to World No 1 in doubles: Rohan Bopanna's journey to the top
His only major title before this came at the 2017 French Open when he won the mixed doubles along with Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski.
The Bopanna-Ebden combo has been tested thoroughly during the Australian Open fortnight, but they continue to survive. On Thursday, they overcame a second-set surge from their opponents. Bopanna fired an ace on first match point at 9-7, in the third-set tie-break, to make his third Grand Slam men's doubles final.
In the final, Bopanna-Ebden will take on Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.
Conferred by the President of India, the Padma Awards are presented at ceremonial functions held at Rashtrapati Bhawan. The award ceremony typically takes place around March or April each year.
LIST: Padma Shri Awardees from the field of sports
- Shri Harbinder Singh (Hockey, Coach)
- Ms. Purnima Mahato (Archery, former athlete)
- Shri Satendra Singh Lohia (Swimming, athlete)
- Shri Gaurav Khanna (Badminton, Coach)
- Shri Uday Vishwanath Deshpande (Mallakhamba, Coach)
- Ms. Joshna Chinappa (Squash, athlete)
- Shri Rohan Machanda Bopanna (Tennis, athlete)
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