On Friday, The Indian Sports Ministry announced the list of sportspersons to be honoured with National Sports Awards.
The Selection Panel led by Justice (retd) Mukundakam Sharma recommended the names for the awards which included the names of weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and wrestler Sakshi Malik for Arjuna awards. These Former Khel Ratna winners’ names were cut down and 27 sportspersons will be bestowed with Arjuna award. And five athletes including cricketer Rohit Sharma were named for the country’s highest sporting honour, Khel Ratna award.
For the first time, a total of five athletes and 27 sportspersons are being awarded with Khel Ratna and Arjuna award respectively.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award:
Rohit Sharma became the fourth cricketer only after Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli to be conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Besides cricketer Rohit Sharma, women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, table tennis champion Manika Batra and para-athlete Mariyappan Thangavelu will also be honoured with Khel Ratna.
Arjuna Award:
Arjuna award is bestowed for display of outstanding and consistent performances.
Archer Atanu Das, Athlete Dutee Chand, Shuttlers Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag C Shetty, Basketball player Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Boxers Subedar Manish Kaushik and Lovlina Borgohain, Cricketer Ishant Sharma and Deepti Sharma, Equestrian player Sawant Ajay Anant, Footballer Sandesh Jhingan, Golfer Aditi Ashok, Hockey players Akashdeep Singh and Deepika, Kabaddi player Deepak, Kho Kho player Kale Sarika Sudhakar, Rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal, Shooter Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, Table Tennis player Madhurika Suhas Patkar, Tennis player Divij Sharan, Winter Sports player Shiva Keshavan, Wrestlers Divya Kakran and Rahul Aware, Para Swimmer Suyash Narayan Jadhav, Para Athlete Sandeep and Para Shooter Manish Narwal.
Dronacharya Award:
This prestigious award is for coaches honouring their contribution in producing medal winners at international sports events,
Life-Time Category
Dharmendra Tiwary for Archery, Purushotham Rai for Athletics, Shiv Singh for Boxing, Romesh Pathania for Hockey, Krishan Kumar Hooda for Kabaddi, Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar for Para Powerlifting, Naresh Kumar for Tennis and Om Parkash Dahiya for Wrestling.
Regular Category
Jude Felix Sebastian for Hockey, Yogesh Malviya for Mallakhamb, Jaspal Rana for Shooting, Kuldeep Kumar Handoo for Wushu and Gaurav Khanna for Para Badminton.
Dhyan Chand Award:
Dhyan Chand Award is conferred honouring life time contribution to sports development.
Kuldip Singh Bhullar and Jincy Philips for Athletics, Pradeep Shrikrishna Gandhe and Trupti Murgunde for Badminton, N. Usha and Lakha Singh for Boxing, Sukhvinder Singh Sandhu for Football, Ajit Singh for Hockey, Manpreet Singh for Kabaddi, J. Ranjith Kumar for Para Athletics, Satyaprakash Tiwari for Para Badminton, Manjeet Singh for Rowing, Nandan P Bal for Tennis, and Netarpal Hooda for Wrestling. Late Sachin Nag will be conferred the award for swimming.
The sports persons will receive their awards from President Ram Nath Kovind on 29th August, National Sports Day which specially coincides with the birthday of Dyan Chand, legendary hockey Olympian. It will be held virtually from Rashtrapati Bhawan keeping in mind the safety of all citizens.
