Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees (1991-2010)

Amongst the prestigious sports awards of India, the "Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award" is considered to be a very honourable one. There are a very few number of sportspersons from various types of sports have been succeeded to win this award so far. All of these extraordinary sportspersons are amongst the best produced by India. After its inception in the year of 1991-92, the very first recipient of the award is the world famous Chess player from India Vishwanathan Anand. He won the award in the year of 1991. After that in the year of 1992, the very talented Billiards player Geet Sethi won the award. The award went to the sporting field of Yachting in the year of 1993 when Cdr. Homi d. Motivala and Lt. Cdr. P.K. Garg won it jointly.

01. 1991-92 Viswanathan Anand   Sport -Chess
02. 1992-93 Geet Sethi                   Sport - Billiards
03  1994-95 Cdr. Homi D. Motivala and Lt. Cdr. P. K. Garg Yachting (Team Event)
04. 1995-96 Karnam Malleswari    Sport -Weightlifting
05. 1996-97 Leander Paes and Nameirakpam Kunjarani (Joint) Sport - Tennis and Weightlifting respectively
 06. 1997-98 Sachin Tendulkar      Sport -Cricket
07. 1998-99 Jyotirmoyee Sikdar Sport -Athletics
08. 1999-2000 Dhanraj Pillay Sport -Hockey
09. 2000-01 Pullela Gopichand Sport -Badminton 
10. 2001-02 Abhinav Bindra Sport -Shooting
11. 2002-03 Anjali Ved Pathak Bhagwat and K. M. Beenamol (Joint) Sport -Shooting and Athletics respectively
12. 2003-04 Anju Bobby George Sport -Athletics
13. 2004-05 Lt. Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Sport -Shooting
14 . 2005-06 Pankaj Advani Sport -Billiards and Snooker
15. 2006-07 Manavjit Singh Sandhu Sport -Shooting
16. 2007-08 Mahendra Singh Dhoni Sport -Cricket 
17. 2008-09 Mary Kom, Sushil Kumar, Vijender Singh Sport -Boxing, Wrestling, Boxing 

And now for year 2010 

Saina Nehwal receives Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna on November 08, 2010 from Gill.
 (Youngest khel ratna awardees)

Know Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal (born March 17, 1990) is an Indian Khel Ratna winning badminton player currently ranked number 4 in the world by Badminton World Federation,[4]. Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics and the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. Saina Nehwal made history on June 21, 2009, becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open with a stunning victory over higher-ranked Chinese Wang Lin in Jakarta. (The Super Series tournament is roughly equivalent to a Grand Slam in tennis).

Saina won her second career Super Series title by winning the Singapore Open title on June 20, 2010. She completed a hat-trick in the same year by winning the Indonesian Open on June 27, 2010. This win resulted in her rise to 3rd ranking and subsequently to No. 2. Later in the same year she also won Hong Kong Super Series on December 12, 2010.

Previously coached by S. M. Arif, a Dronacharya Award winner, Saina is the reigning Indian national junior champion and is currently coached by Indonesian badminton legend Atik Jauhari since August 2008,[5] with the former All England champion and national coach Pullela Gopichand being her mentor. Saina was born in Hisar, Haryana and has spent her entire life in Hyderabad, India. Her foray into the world of badminton was influenced by her father Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist at the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad and her mother Usha Nehwal[1], both of whom were former badminton champions in Haryana. She is the top ranked player (women) in Indian Badminton history