Every year on August 29, the Centre rewards the country’s best sportsperson and coaches for their achievements. The annual Sports Awards ceremony marks the birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyan Chand and is also celebrated as the National Sports Day.
On this day, the President presents the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (India’s highest sporting honour), Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, Dhyan Chand Award, Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards are given to athletes for outstanding performance in their respective fields at the international level, who have been performing consistently over the past four years. The Dronacharya Award is conferred to coaches, while the Dhyan Chand Award is the lifetime achievement sporting honour. Bodies that contribute towards the development of sports in India are acknowledged via the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar.
The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award recognizes the achievement of individuals associated in the field of adventure, while the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy is awarded to the overall top performing university in the Inter-University tournaments.
Here is the list of professional athletes nominated for this year:
Khel Ratna Award:
Neeraj Chopra (Javelin Throw)
Amit Panghal (Boxing)
Vikas Krishan (Boxing)
Rohit Sharma (Cricket)
Rani Rampal (Hockey)
Manika Batra (Table Tennis)
Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling)
Arjuna Award:
Dutee Chand (Athletics)
Arpinder Singh (Athletics)
Manjit Singh (Athletics)
PU Chitra (Athletics)
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Badminton)
Sameer Verma (Badminton)
Manish Kaushik (Boxing)
Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing)
Simranjit Kaur (Boxing)
Shikhar Dhawan (Cricket)
Ishant Sharma (Cricket)
Deepti Sharma (Cricket)
Vandana Kataria (Hockey)
Monika (Hockey)
Harmanpret Singh (Hockey)
Saurabh Chaudhary (Shooting)
Abhishek Verma (Shooting)
Manu Bhaker (Shooting)
Elavenil Valarivan (Shooting)
Suthirtha Mukherjee (Table Tennis)
Madhurika Patkar (Table Tennis)
Manav Thakkar (Table Tennis)
Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting)
Ragala Venkat Rahul (Weightlifting)
Poonam Yadav (Weightlifting)
Sakshi Malik (Wrestling)
Deepak Punia (Wrestling)
Rahul Aware (Wrestling)
Sandeep Tomar (Wrestling)
Naveen (Wrestling)
