Badminton star Saina Nehwal on Monday received the prestigious Rajiv Khel Ratna Award for the year 2010 from Union sports minister M S Gill, at a simple ceremony on Monday.
Saina missed the scheduled award ceremony on August 29, as she was competing in the World Championships in Paris.
"Ms. Saina Nehwal was in Paris for the World Championship when the National Sports Awards were conferred by the President of India on August 29. In view of this, the award was conferred on her today," the Sports Ministry said in a release.
The award, India's highest sporting honour, carries a medal, a citation and a cash prize of Rs. 7.5 lakh.
Saina has performed phenomenally well in the last one year. She is among the outstanding badminton players ranking 2nd in the world. She has won the Indonesia Super Series 2010, the Singapore Open Super Series 2010, the Indian Open Grand Prix 2010, the Indonesian Super Series 2009, and the Indian Open Grand Prix 2009.
She was a semi-finalist in the 2009 BWF World Championship and a semi-finalist in the All-England Super Series 2010. She won a gold medal in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games 2010. She was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2009.