At 11, his brother suggested he take his badminton seriously and Gopi, as he is affectionately known as, never looked back from then.
Panghal became the first Indian boxer to claim a silver medal at the just-concluded World Championships in Ekaterinburg, Russia. He is also an Asian Games and Asian Championships gold-medallist.
Boxing Federation of India (BFI) had recommended elite Indian coaches Sandhya Gurung and Shiv Singh for this year's Dronacharya Award beside sending the names of Panghal and Gaurav Bidhuri for the prestigious Arjuna Award.
Indian para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia and hockey wizard Sardar Singh will receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Rohan Bopanna and weightlifter Sanjita Chanu have not been added to the list of Arjuna awardees.
