Khel Ratna And Arjuna Awards 2024: Double Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker and chess world champion D Gukesh are among the four winners of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award announced by the Sports Ministry. The ministry also named 17 para-athletes in 32 Arjuna awardees, recognizing their outstanding achievements at the Paris Paralympics.
The President will present the sports awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 11 a.m. on January 17.
Khel Ratna And Arjuna Awards 2024: Record 17 Para-Athletes Among Arjuna Awardees:
There was controversy when Manu Bhaker’s name was initially missing from the list finalized by the selection panel. The issue arose because the shooter had not submitted a self-application, as the government had simplified the process to require athletes to apply themselves instead of relying on recommendations from national federations or others.
The Union Sports Minister’s decision ensured Manu Bhaker’s name was added to the list. Similarly, in the past, the ministry awarded Saina Nehwal the Khel Ratna without requiring an application or recommendation.
Two other shooters, Swapnil Kusale, who won bronze in the rifle 3-position event, and Sarabjot Singh, who secured mixed air pistol bronze with Manu at the Paris Olympics, have been chosen for the Arjuna award.
Aman Sehrawat, who won a bronze medal in wrestling at the Paris Games, has also been selected for the Arjuna Award.
Murlikant Petkar, the 50-meter freestyle swimming gold medalist from the 1972 Paralympics in Heidelberg, Germany, has been honored with the Arjuna Award in the lifetime category. His inspiring life story gained widespread recognition through the film Chandu Champion, based on his achievements.
The government has named 32 athletes for the Arjuna Award, including 16 Paralympians—a fitting recognition, as India achieved its best-ever performance at the Paris Paralympics.
The list includes four hockey players, two athletes, two boxers, and one athlete each from wrestling (Aman Sehrawat), swimming (Sajan Prakash), squash (Abhay Singh), and chess (Vartika Agrawal).
Shooting coach Deepali Deshpande has been selected for the Dronacharya Award, along with hockey coach Sandeep Sangwan and para-shooting coach Subhash Rana.
Chandigarh University has won the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad trophy for the best university, beating Lovely Professional University and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Khel Ratna:
D Gukesh (chess)
Harmanpreet Singh (hockey)
Praveen Kumar (para athletics)
Manu Bhaker (shooting)
Arjuna Award:
Jyothi Yarraji, Annu Rani (athletics)
Nitu Ghanghas, Saweety Boora (boxing)
Vartika Agrawal (chess)
Salima Tete, Abhishek Nain, Sanjay Rana, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh (hockey)
Rakesh Kumar, Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Khilari, Dharambir Nain, Pranav Soorma, Hokato Sema, Simran Sharma, Navdeep Singh, Nitesh Kumar, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Nithya Sivan, Manisha Ramadass, Kapil Parma, Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis (para-sports)
Swapnil Kusale, Sarabjot Singh (shooting)
Abhay Singh (squash)
Sajan Prakash (swimming)
Aman Sehrawat (wrestling)
Arjuna Award (Lifetime):
Sucha Singh (athletics)
Murlikant Petkar (para swimming)
Dronacharya Award:
Subhash Rana (para shooting)
Deepali Deshpande (shooting)
Sandeep Sangwan (hockey)
Dronacharya (Lifetime):
S Muralidharan (badminton)
Armando Colaco (football)
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar:
Physical Education Foundation of India
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy:
Chandigarh University
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