New Delhi: India's ace double trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi said he was honoured to be selected for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, an honour he was expecting last year.
"It is a great honour for me. The Khel Ratna is one award that every sportsperson dreams about," the world No.19 told IANS after he was selected for India's highest sports award.
For the former World No.1 it was the third attempt for the Khel Ratna and Sodhi feels he was good enough to have won it last year as well. Sodhi had a great 2011 winning a World Cup final gold, a silver and bronze from World Cups and was also the World No.1.
"I have been consistent for the past few years and this was my third attempt. I feel I was good enough to have won it last year too. But as long as you have the award in your kitty it should be a great feeling," said Sodhi, who hails from Ferozepur in Punjab.
Though Sodhi has been selected for the award but not without controversy as ace discus thrower Krishna Poonia expressed her displeasure for not being selected for the award. She went on to sayt that injustice has been done to her and that she would take up the matter with sports minister Jitendra Singh.
Sodhi is the seventh shooter after Abhinav Bindra (2001-02), Anjali Bhagwat (2002-03), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (2004-05), Manavjit Singh Sandhu (2006-07), Gagan Narang (2010-11) and Vijay Kumar (2011-12) to get the Khel Ratna.
It was also for the third consecutive year that a shooter was picked up for the the Khel Ratna.
