After recovering from foot warts, Prannoy produced some sensational badminton to reach his maiden quarterfinals of the All England Championship that saw him jump four places and regain the world no. 12 spot in BWF rankings.
Srikanth received the award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati in New Delhi.
World no 3 Srikanth lost 11-21 21-15 20-22 to the unseeded Chinese at the Arena Birmingham here in a 52-minute battle last night to crash out of the tournament.
The unseeded Prannoy, who came into the tournament after recovering from foot warts, outwitted former world no 3 and 2014 world championship bronze medallist Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia .
Sindhu staved off a stiff challenge from Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong to prevail 20-22 21-17 21-9 in a 56-minute contest.
Sindhu and Srikanth are expected to have easy first round outings against relatively unheralded opponents but the road is tricky for former finalist Saina Nehwal, who will face none other than world no 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.
The 25-year old shuttler, who won four Super Series titles last year, is yet to win the coveted All England Championships or an Olympic medal to achieve the legendary status.
When asked who has played the major role in the men's recent rise in badminton, HS Prannoy credited coach Pullela Gopichand without giving second thoughts on it.
India have been drawn in Group A against neighbours Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Europe's Scotland, which arguably makes it tough for them to progress to the knockout phase of the tournament.
Srikanth lost 19-21, 17-21 to Malaysian qualifier Iskandar Zulkarnain, who will face Sameer Verma on Friday.
Srikanth will look to return back stronger when he will open his India Open campaign against Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu on Wednesday.
Saina, who had clinched the India Open Super Series in 2015, has made a superb start to the new season as she reached the finals of Indonesia Masters after recovering from an ankle injury and she would be one of the favourites this week.
Sindhu won three titles and three silvers last season, while Srikanth exceeded all expectations with four titles and runners-up finish and the duo would hope to continue their good run in the new season.
The BAI has decided to field a formidable line up for this year's edition at Alor Setar, which will serve as a qualification tournament for the Thomas and Uber Cups Finals.
Srikanth and Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu were on Tuesday accorded a rousing felicitation by the Andhra Pradesh government.
Srikanth, who suffered a defeat to World No 1 and defending champion Viktor Axelsen in his opening match yesterday, failed to improve his game and went down 18-21 18-21 against Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen in the USD 1 million event on Thursday.
Sindhu faces Japan's Sayaka Sato next, while Srikanth will take on Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen tomorrow.
World No.4 Srikanth has been placed in Group B of men's singles event along with Chou Tien Chen (world No.7) and Shi Yuqi (world No.8), apart from Axelsen.
Looking ahead to next year, Srikanth said he wanted to take a break and train well before the Commonwealth Games.
Srikanth, who skipped the China Open and Hong Kong Open to recover from a mild strain, will be back in action at the Dubai Super Series Final, starting next week.
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