Days after India’s swift and smart shuttlers brought home the Thomas Cup, a first in over 70 years, an agile Odisha government has raced past its Maharashtra peer in felicitating the winning squad that included Malad man Chirag Shetty.

After India’s victory, the Maharashtra sports commissioner sent a proposal to the state government for the felicitation of local boy Shetty, who has also represented the state at the national level for more than a decade, but it’s still stuck in red tape.