Saina may be recommended for Padma Bhushan award

Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal told NDTV: "Saina is one of the greatest badminton players and she has made every Indian proud. My ministry will definitely examine the possibility of sending her name for the awards."

He flayed the Badminton Association of India for  "not sending the nomination well on time."

"The staff at my bungalow received a packet that had a letter recommending Saina's name, only yesterday. Even my private secretary received an email from Badminton Association yesterday," the minister told the news channel.

Saina Nehwal on Saturday thanked her fans for supporting her at a time when the Union Sports Ministry decided to reject her application for the prestigious Padma Bhushan award.

In her Twitter homepage, Saina said : "Thank u friends for ur love and support."

Saina has expressed her disappointment over the decision taken the Sports Ministry over the Padma Bhushan award.

In a series of tweets, Saina expressed her thoughts on the issue, as she said: "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 years."

"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 Years so my file got rejected last year and I again applied this year for the award . I read that Sushil Kumar name is recommended by the 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 in 2014," Nehwal said.

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