National Sports Awards: From Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra to Indian woman cricketer Mithali Raj have received the prestigious Khel Ratna award from President Ramnath Kovind on Saturday. Apart from them, wrestler Ravi Dahiya, Para shooter Avani Lekhar, Indian football skipper Sunil Chhetri were among 12 others who got the prestigious awards. Meanwhile, Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan also received the Arjuna award from President Ramnath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
All India Radio News tweeted, “President Ram Nath Kovind confers Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2021 on Javelin thrower #NeerajChopra, the First Indian track and field athlete to win an Olympic medal”
ANI tweeted, “President Ram Nath Kovind confers Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2021 on Pramod Bhagat (para-badminton), Mithali Raj (cricket), Sunil Chhetri (football), and Manpreet Singh (hockey) in New Delhi”
Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing), Sreejesh P.R (Hockey), Sumit Antil (Para-Athletics), Pramod Bhagat (Para Badminton), Manish Narwal (Para Shooting), and Manpreet Singh (Hockey) are other athletes who were conferred with the prestigious award, National Sports Awards by the President.
Krishna Nagar, a Para-Badminton player, was also slated to receive the Khel Ratna Award but had to miss the event because of his mother’s sudden demise.
National Sports Awards : Players who received Khel Ratna award
- Neeraj Chopra, who’s the only second gold medalist from India got Khel Ratna Award.
- Mithali Raj who played for India women for over twenty years was also conferred the prestigious award.
- A number medalists of Tokyo Olympics and Paralympians were honored at the National Sports Award ceremony.
- Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri and Indian Hockey skipper Manpreet Singh won the Khel Ratna Award.
- National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.
Here’s a list of awardees who got the awards
Khel Ratna Awards: Neeraj Chopra (Athletics), Ravi Dahiya (Wrestling), Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing), P.R Sreejesh (Hockey), Avani Lekhara (Para Shooting), Sumit Antil (Para-Athletics), Pramod Bhagat (Para Badminton), Krishna Nagar (Para Badminton), Manish Narwal (Para Shooting), Mithali Raj (Cricket), Sunil Chhetri (Football), Manpreet Singh (Hockey).
Arjuna Awards: Arpinder Singh (Athletics), Simranjit Kaur (Boxing), Shikhar Dhawan (Cricket), CA Bhavani Devi (Fencing), Monika (Hockey), Vandana Katariya (Hockey), Sandeep Narwal (Kabaddi), Himani Uttam Parab (Mallakhamb), Abhishek Verma (Shooting), Ankita Raina (Tennis), Deepak Punia (Wrestling), Dilpreet Singh (Hockey), Harman Preet Singh (Hockey), Rupinder Pal Singh (Hockey), Surender Kumar (Hockey), Amit Rohidas (Hockey), Birendra Lakra (Hockey), Sumit (Hockey), Nilakanta Sharma (Hockey), Hardik Singh (Hockey), Vivek Sagar Prasad (Hockey), Gurjant Singh (Hockey), Mandeep Singh (Hockey), Shamsher Singh (Hockey), Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (Hockey), Varun Kumar (Hockey), Simranjeet Singh (Hockey), Yogesh Kathuniya (Para Athletics) Nishad Kumar (Para Athletics), Praveen Kumar(Para Athletics), Suhash Yathiraj (Para Badminton) Singhraj Adhana (Para Shooting), Bhavina Patel (Para Table Tennis), Harvinder Singh (Para Archery) and Sharad Kumar (Para Athletics).
Read more: NBA: Steph Curry becomes the Greatest Of All Time for the most 3 pointers in NBA history
