Padma Bhushan for Dravid, Mary Kom

New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Former India cricketer Rahul Dravid and London Olympics bronze medalist boxer M.C. Mary Kom were Friday named for the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award while six other sportspersons were been named in the list of Padma Shri awardees.

London Olympic silver medallist shooter Vijay Kumar, bronze medal winning wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, para athlete Hosanagara Nagarajegowda Girisha, boxer Ngangom Dingko Singh, mountaineer Premlata Agrawal, and rower Bajrang Lal Takhar were chosen for the Padma Shri Awards.

Dravid, who retired last year after playing 164 Tests and 344 ODIs piling up more than 24,000 runs in international cricket, was the only cricketer to receive the award this year.

The Bangalorean is the third highest run-getter in Tests behind former teammate Sachin Tendulkar and Australia’s Ricky Ponting. The 40-year-old won the Padma Shri award in 2004.

Five-time world champion Mary Kom is the only woman boxer to have won a medal at the Olympics.

She was the only Indian boxer to return home with a medal with the rest of the contingent, which included a 2008 Beijing Games bronze medalist returning home empty hand.

The boxer from Manipur won bronze at the Olympics in the 51 kg category.

Vijay Kumar won the silver in 25 metre rapid-fire pistol shooting event at London, opening India’s tally of medals at the 2012 event.

he 27-year-old hailing from Barsar village of Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh is presently a serving Subedar Major in the Dogra Regiment of the Indian Army

The 30-year-old, Yogeshwar won a bronze in the 60kg free style category and was the second wrestler to win a bronze. Sushil Kumar was the other wrestler, winning a silver.

At the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, Yogeshwar overcame a career-threatening knee injury to win the 60 kg title.

At 48 years, mountaineer Premlata went into the record books after she became the oldest Indian woman to scale the world’s tallest peak, Mount Everest.

Through her feats, she earned a listing in the Limca Book of Records.

Takhar, who is a Naib Subedar in the Rajputana Rifles regiment of the Indian Army, won India’s first individual rowing gold medal for India at the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou.

Dingko Singh, a Manipur boxer, is one of the biggest proponents of boxing in India.

He won the gold medal at 1998 Bangkok Asian Games and also won the King’s cup in Bangkok in 1997.

Girisha Hosanagara gave India its first medal at the Paralympic Games after bagging a silver in the Men’s High Jump event in London.

IANS 2013-01-25 23:44:02