The Sports Ministry has nominated Rio Olympics silver medallist shuttler PV Sindhu for the prestigious Padma Bhushan award.

Sindhu now joins former India cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the second sportsperson to be nominated for the country's third highest civilian honour this year.

The 22-year-old Hyderabadi shuttler was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award -- the highest sporting honour in India -- in 2016 and the Padma Shri in 2015. 

Sindhu, who was also a silver medallist at the World Badminton Championships in Glasgow last month, recently beat Japan's Nozomi Okuhara to become the first Indian shuttler to clinch the Korea Open Super Series title. 

She beat reigning world champion Nozomi Okuhara 22-20, 11-21, 21-18 to win her third super series title in the year.

In the process, she exacted sweet revenge for her World Championship defeat last month, where she had lost to the same player.

The 22-year-old Hyderabadi won in an hour and 24 minutes at the SK Handball Stadium.

Okuhara had conquered the Hyderabadi in the World Championships final in August in Glasgow.

After the August 27 win, the Rio Olympic bronze medallist Okuhara, 22, had taken a 4-3 lead in career meetings against Sindhu. 

Last week, Sindhu had jumped two places to the second spot in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) women's singles rankings.

Meanwhile, according to sources, the ministry also recommended India's first individual Olympics medallist wrestler KD Jadhav's name for the prestigious Padma Shri, 33 years after his death.

Jadhav had won India's first individual Olympics medal by clinching a bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Games.

(With IANS inputs)