On Wednesday (20 December), the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2023. Star men’s doubles badminton partners, Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been nominated for India’s highest sporting honour, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2023.
Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had a strong run as a badminton partner in 2023. Apart from winning the country’s first gold medal in badminton at the Asian Games and the Badminton Asia Championships, the badminton partners won three BWF titles in 2023 (Swiss Open, Indonesia Open, and Korea Open).
Also, in 2023, Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty created history by becoming the first Indian doubles pair to reach the BWF world ranking no.1.
In 2020, both partners, Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were honoured with the Arjuna Award.
Meanwhile, 26 players are set to receive the Arjuna Award 2023. Also, five coaches will be honoured with the Dronacharya Award 2023 (for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games).
In further, three athletes will receive the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award 2023.
In the meantime, Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University has won the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023, while Lovely Professional University (Punjab) and Kurukshetra University (Kurukshetra) are in the second and third positions, respectively.
On 9 January 2024, the President of India will honour all these awardees at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2023
Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (badminton), Chirag Shetty (badminton).
Arjuna Award 2023
Mohammed Shami (cricket), Ajay Reddy (blind cricket), Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Parul Chaudhary (athletics), Murali Sreeshankar (athletics), Mohd Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Divyakriti Singh (equestrian), Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (hockey), Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pinky (lawn ball), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis), Esha Singh (shooting), Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (squash), Sunil Kumar (wrestling), Naorem Roshibina Devi (wushu), Prachi Yadav (para canoeing), Pawan Kumar (kabaddi), Ritu Negi (kabaddi), Nasreen (kho kho).
Dronacharya Award 2023 (for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games)
Ganesh Prabhakaran (mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (para athletics), Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Shivendra Singh (hockey).
Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award 2023
Kavita (kabaddi), Manjusha Kanwar (badminton), Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey).
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (winner)
Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runners-up)
Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runners-up)
