Amidst glitz and glamour, Pankaj Advani was on Tuesday ceremonially conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- the country's highest sporting honour -- by President A P J Abdul Kalam, marking a momentous occasion for India's young cue sport speciallist.
Hordes of shutterbugs worked frantically to capture the moment as Advani, who has the distinction of winning both snooker and billiards world championships, received the coveted award at the glittering Darbar Hall at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in the presence of a host of dignitaries.
Fifteen other top sportspersons, including woman shuttler Aparna Popat and shooter Gagan Narang were presented the Arjuna awards for their outstanding contribution for the last three years while the Dronacharya awards were given away to eminent coaches.
For the second year running, the glamour world of cricket went unrepresented with no male cricketer figuring in the list of Arjuna awardees. However, woman cricket player Anju Jain bagged the Arjuna.
The Khel Ratna, which had earlier been won by celebrated stars such as Sachin Tendulkar, Leander Paes, Viswanathan Anand among others, carries a purse of Rs 5 lakh, a medal and a scroll of honour. The Arjuna awardees were given Rs three lakh, a statuette and a scroll of honour.
A hushed silence descended in the packed Darbar Hall as the President, accompanied by the immaculately dressed bodyguards, entered the arena for the presentation which is held every year on this day.
{{/usCountry}}A hushed silence descended in the packed Darbar Hall as the President, accompanied by the immaculately dressed bodyguards, entered the arena for the presentation which is held every year on this day.
{{/usCountry}}However, Kaur and Rasquinha could not be present at the function as they are abroad.
While Kaur is training for the athletics World Cup in Ukraine, Rasquinha is in Germany to take part in the World Cup.
But the biggest applause was reserved for chair-borne powerlifter Rajinder Singh Rahelu, who was the last name in the list for the Arjuna in physically handicapped category.
In a touching gesture, the President, accompanied by Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, walked up to Rahelu to present the award.
"This is the biggest day of my life," said the Jalandhar sportsman, who won the bronze in 2004 Athens Paralympic Games.
Ganguly said he was glad chess made a comeback to the list after a gap of one year.
"I had applied for the first time and may be they considered me for the three National titles on the trot and some of my international performances," he said.
Narang, who won the gold medals in China, and Melbourne Commonwealth Games, said the award had motivated him to strive for still higher honours.
"It is really a great motivation after the productive year."
Others who got the Arjuna were shuttler Aparna Popat, boxer Akhil Kumar, Kabaddi player Ramesh Kumar, women's swimmer Shikha Tandon, table tennis player Soumyadeep Roy and wrestler Sushil Kumar.
The Dronacharya awards for eminent coaches was presented to captain M Venu (boxing), Balwan Singh (kabaddi), Maha Singh Rao (wrestling) and Ismail Baig (rowing).