National Sports Awards: Neeraj Chopra, PR Sreejesh among a dozen Khel Ratna winners
Eleven Tokyo 2020 medallists were conferred the Khel Ratna while 35 athletes received the Arjuna Award.
Tokyo 2020 medallists Neeraj Chopra, PR Sreejesh, Lovlina Borgohain and Ravi Kumar Dahiya were among 12 sportspersons honoured with the country’s highest sporting honour - the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
The other Khel Ratna awardees were Indian men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh, footballer Sunil Chhetri and cricketer Mithali Raj.
Tokyo Paralympics medallists Avani Lekhara, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar, Sumit Antil and Manish Narwal also received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award for 2021.
As many as 35 athletes - including history-making fencer Bhavani Devi, hockey player Vandana Katariya and Tokyo Paralympics medallist Bhavina Patel - were given the Arjuna Award.
The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is given for outstanding performances in the field of sports while the Arjuna Award is to recognise consistent performances and qualities like leadership and discipline. Both awards consider performances over a period of four years.
The awards are generally given on the occasion of National Sports Day - August 29 (Dhyan Chand’s birth anniversary) - but were deferred this year due to the Olympics and Paralympics.
Athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair and table tennis coach Subramanian Raman were among those who received the Dronacharya Award.
The National Sports Awards are announced by the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.
The awardees will be honoured by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind on November 13 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan - the official residence of the President in New Delhi.