Tiruvallur (T.N), Jan 3 : Indian para-badminton player Manisha Ramadass has been selected to receive the prestigious Arjuna Award, the second-highest sporting honour of India, for her bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. The 19-year-old will take the honour as motivation as she aims to win the gold at the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.

Manisha won her maiden bronze medal in the Paralympic Games defeating Denmark's Cathrine Rosengren 2-0 (21-12, 21-8) in the third-place match in the Women's Singles SU5 category. Her victory ensured that India had a double podium finish with compatriot Thulasimathi Murugesan bagging the silver medal.

Reacting to being awarded the Arjuna Award, Manisha said she was very happy to get the prestigious award.

'I am very happy to receive the award. I dedicate this honour to my parents, coaches, central government, and state government because without their support I could not have been here. They have supported me throughout my journey," she told IANS in an interview on Friday. 'This award will motivate me to achieve more things in the future. My next big goal is to win the gold at the Los Angeles Paralympics and this award will motivate me to achieve it,' Manisha told IANS.

Manisha's 0-2 (21-23, 17-21) loss against No.1 seed Thulasimathi in the semifinal saw her fall out of gold medal contention and battling for third place. The 19-year-old defeated Japan's Mamiko Toyoda 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) in the quarterfinals after finishing second in Group C. Her only loss in the Group Stage came against eventual finalist Qiuxia Yang of China.

In the SU5 category, the players have impairment of the upper limbs. The impairment could be on the playing or non-playing hand.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Thursday named 32 recipients for the Arjuna Award, given for "good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline".

The Arjuna Award list includes hurdler Jyothi Yarraji, javelin thrower Annu Rani, Nitu, Saweety, Vantika Agrawal, women's hockey team captain Salima Tete, Olympic bronze medallists in men's hockey Abhishek, Sanjay, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, para-archer Rakesh Kumar, Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari, Dharambir, Pranav Soorma, H. Hokato Sema, Simran, Navdeep, para-shuttlers Nitesh Kumar, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, Manisha Ramadass, Kapil Parmar, Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis, Swapnil Suresh Kusale, Sarabjot Singh, Abhay Singh, Sajan Prakash and Aman Sehrawat.

/IANS