The applications for the National Sports Awards will be invited till November 14, said the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The list of awards bestowed upon the sportspersons include: Arjuna Award, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award (Lifetime) and the Dronacharya Award. The other awards include the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy, the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar and the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award. Last year, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the biggest sports honour in the country, was awarded to star pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag, popularly known as ‘Sat-Chi’ have secured three Badminton World Federation (BWF) titles in 2023, the Swiss Open, the Indonesia Open and the Korea Open. They also won India’s historic first-ever badminton gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and also the Asian Championships gold in April.
The duo in October 2023 became the first doubles pair in Indian badminton history to be ranked at world number one in BWF rankings. Last year, the Indian shuttlers were also a part of the country’s historic, game-changing Thomas Cup win. They also bagged medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (gold) and World Championships (bronze).
The following were the players who were given the Arjuna Award last year: Mohammed Shami (cricket), Ajay Reddy (blind cricket) Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Parul Chaudhary and Murali Sreeshankar (athletics), Mohd Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Divyakriti Singh and 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).
Last year, Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games winners were: Ganesh Prabhakaran (mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (para athletics), Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Shivendra Singh (hockey).
Last year’s Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award: Kavita (kabaddi), Manjusha Kanwar (badminton) Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey).
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy winners from 2023: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (winner), Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runners-up), Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runners-up)
National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.
‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’ is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over the period of the previous four years.
‘Arjuna Award for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games’ is given for good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
‘Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games’ is given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and for enabling sportspersons to excel in International events.
‘Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games’ is given to honour sportspersons who have contributed to sports through their performance and who continue to contribute to the promotion of sports events after their retirement.
The overall top-performing university in inter-university tournaments is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.
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