India

Former Badminton Star Kuhu Garg Wins ‘Sword of Honour’ at Police Academy

By Livemint

Kuhu Garg, a 2024‑batch Indian Police Service officer, received the ‘Sword of Honour’ for Best Outdoor Probationer at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad. The award, based on performance in physical training, horse riding, unarmed combat, yoga, tactics, mock drills and sports, follows her earlier win of the ‘Best Drill’ award during the passing‑out parade. Garg, who was India's No. 1 international badminton player, belongs to the academy’s 78th Regular Recruit batch. She hails from Kurana village in Haryana’s Panipat district and is the daughter of Ashok Kumar, former IPS officer, former Director General of Police for Uttarakhand and current Vice‑Chancellor of the Sports University of Haryana. Garg earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce in 2018. She represented India on the badminton circuit from 2013 to 2020, coached by Dr D.K. Sen and later by Padma Bhushan awardee Pullela Gopichand. Her career best rankings were 34 in mixed doubles and 73 in women’s doubles. She won 56 national and 19 international medals and reached the quarter‑finals of the 2018 World Championships. A severe ACL knee injury during the Covid‑19 pandemic halted her sporting career, after which she focused on the UPSC examinations. She studied eight to ten hours a day and cleared the Civil Services Examination in 2023 on her first attempt, ranking 178th nationally. She is the first active Team India player to clear the exam in the open category while still competing. Garg was allocated the Gujarat cadre and joined the service on 26 August 2024. Her father explained that the ‘Sword of Honour’ is awarded after rigorous evaluation of an officer’s performance across 15 to 20 outdoor training activities. Garg said the discipline, resilience and strategic mindset developed as an athlete helped her succeed at the academy. She will soon assume full‑time policing duties in Gujarat.