Gopichand receives Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

Badminton star Pullela Gopichand received the country's highest sports award on Saturday and said "it doesn't get better than this".

Gopichand, who won the men's singles at the All England championship in March, accepted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award from President K. R. Narayanan at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

The 27-year-old said he was gearing up for future tournaments, including next year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

But Gopichand said his plan to train overseas against top rivals has run into problems because top badminton powers were reluctant to let him train with their stars.

"There are not many places which encourage players from outside. China, Indonesia and Malaysia have shut down while in Denmark also it is difficult to get any sustained period to train with their players," he told reporters after the ceremony.

Gopichand said he was now looking at a chance to train in England. "At the end of my career, I shouldn't feel I didn't try," he said.

A total of 31 present and former athletes were given the country's second highest sports prize, the Arjuna award.

Among them was Kusumthai Jadhav, the widow of India's first individual Olympic medallist, wrestler Kashaba Jadhav who took bronze in the bantamweight division in the 1952 Helsinki Games. He died in a road accident in 1984.