May 04, 2016: Ace Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri has been nominated for the country’s highest sports honour, the Khel Ratna. Lahiri has been nominated along with Virat Kohli and Jitu Rai. Lahiri is the only Indian, currently eligible to play on the PGA TOUR. Kohli has risen quickly through the ranks to establish himself as the captain and leading star of Indian cricket. Rai is the leading shooter in the world in the 10m air pistol category and is ranked fourth in the 50m pistol too.
The prestigious honour was instituted in 1991, with Viswanathan Anand becoming the first recipient of this award. No golfer has ever won the recognition, so it will be a tremendous boost for the game, should Lahiri be chosen ahead of Kohli and Rai.
Lahiri has enjoyed a dream run since notching up victories at the Maybank Malaysian Open and the Indian Open in 2015. He capped off a great year with a top 10 finish at the PGA Championship. Lahiri was T5 at the Whistling Straits after winning the pre-tournament long drive competition.
Even though he is still searching for success on the PGA TOUR, he has made a respectable start, winning nearly half a million dollars in 12 starts this season. He has made the cut in 9 of those events, as he builds up a steady cushion to try and retain his card by remaining in the top 125 golfers on the TOUR.
Lahiri has two European Tour victories and eleven wins on the Asian Tour to his credit. Lahiri’s success underlines the steady growth of golf in India, paving the way for a new era for the game in India.
The award takes into account performances over a four year stretch leading up to the year of the award. The recipient is chosen by a committee constituted by the ministry of youth affairs and sports. An athlete is recognized for her “spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports over a period of four years”. The award includes a medallion, a certificate and a cash prize of ?7.5 lakh.
- In this article
- Pros
- anand datla
- anirban lahiri
- Jitu Rai
- Khel Ratna
- Virat Kohli
