Gayatri Gopichand; Dhanush Srikanth. Source: X (CMO)
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday, August 18, extended his congratulations to the two Telangana athletes, shuttler Gayatri Gopichand and shooter Dhanush Srikanth, selected for the prestigious Arjuna Awards announced by the Sports Ministry earlier in the day. They are among 17 sportspersons selected for the award.
In a post on X, the Chief Minister’s Office noted that Gayatri and Dhanush, “who have demonstrated exceptional talent in the field of sports and have been selected for the Arjuna Awards, are a matter of pride for Telangana and the nation.”
The post went on to say, “Likewise, the Chief Minister has conveyed his best wishes to all the winners of the National Sports Awards–2025. He stated that the dedication, perseverance, and hard work they have shown in the field of sports are inspirational for young athletes. The Chief Minister expressed his hope that in the future, they will achieve even more victories and receive prestigious awards.”
Gayatri, 23, is the daughter of Pullela Gopichand and P. V. V. Lakshmi, an eight-time national women’s badminton champion, a Commonwealth Games medallist and an Olympian.
“With the early initiation into the sport and the ability to observe and train with India’s top shuttlers, including Saina (Nehwal) and (P.V.) Sindhu, at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy, run by her parents, Gayatri and her younger brother Sai Vishnu made rapid progress,” notes the Olympics website.
At the age of 15, Gayatri was already India No. 1 in the Under-17 age group and was regularly beating senior players at domestic ranking tournaments.
Her performances at these ranking events also earned her a spot in the Indian badminton squad for the Jakarta 2018 Asian Games at the age of just 15. At the time she was the youngest member to make an Indian Asian Games badminton contingent.
Meanwhile, even as this report is being filed, Gayatri, in an unseeded pairing with Treesa Jolly, has defeated 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Quynh Lee in straight games to book their place in the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships currently being played in New Delhi.
Twenty-four-year-old Dhanush Srikanth broke the world deaf record in the 10m Air Rifle on his way to winning India’s first gold medal in shooting at the 25th Summer Deaflympics in Tokyo, Japan, in November 2025.
He also broke the Deaflympics qualification record to book his spot in the finals.
According to the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf, Dhanush has bagged 4 golds in the Deaflympics: 1 each in the men’s and mixed categories in 2022 and 2025. He also secured two golds in the same categories in the World Championships in Hanover in 2024.
This post was last modified on August 18, 2026 7:19 pm