Khel Ratna Awards : The National Sports Award 2024 was announced by the Sports Ministry on Thursday. Olympic double medal winner shooter Manu Bhaker, world chess champion D Gukesh, hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and para athlete player Praveen Kumar will be awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
Apart from these, 5 coaches will get Dronacharya Award, out of which 2 are for lifetime achievement. 34 players will be given Arjuna Award, out of which 17 are para-athletes, while 2 are for lifetime achievement. The award ceremony will be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 17 January.
Manu won double medals in Paris Olympics
Manu Bhaker won double Olympic medals in the Paris Olympic Games in August-September. She finished third in the 10 meter air pistol individual and mixed doubles. With her two medals, India won a total of 6 medals in the Paris Olympics.
18 year old Gukesh is the new world champion of chess, he won the title at the youngest age
18-year-old Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh won the World Chess Championship title on 11 December in Singapore. He defeated China’s defending champion Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 in the final. Gukesh has become the first player in the world to win the title at such a young age. Earlier in 1985, Russia’s Garry Kasparov won this title at the age of 22.
Under the captaincy of Harmanpreet, India won bronze in Paris Olympics
Under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Singh, the Indian hockey team won bronze in the Paris Olympics 2024 and gold in the Asian Games 2022. At the same time, Harmanpreet has won the Player of the Year title at the FIH Awards three times.
Praveen had won Paralympics gold with a record in high jump
Praveen Kumar surprised everyone by winning the gold medal with an Asian record in the men’s high jump at the Paris Paralympics 2024. Praveen, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, gave the best performance of his career in the T64 event and made history by clearing a height of 2.08 meters.
Here’s the complete list of winners
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024
| Sportsperson | Discipline |
| Gukesh D | Chess |
| Harmanpreet Singh | Hockey |
| Praveen Kumar | Para-Athletics |
| Manu Bhaker | Shooting |
Arjuna Award
| Sportsperson | Discipline |
| Jyothi Yarraji | Athletics |
| Annu Rani | Athletics |
| Nitu | Boxing |
| Saweety | Boxing |
| Vantika Agrawal | Boxing |
| Salima Tete | Hockey |
| Abhishek | Hockey |
| Sanjay | Hockey |
| Jarmanpreet Singh | Hockey |
| Sukhjeet Singh | Hockey |
| Rakesh Kumar | Para-Archery |
| Preeti Pal | Para-Athletics |
| Jeevanji Deepthi | Para-Athletics |
| Ajeet Singh | Para-Athletics |
| Sachin Khilari | Para-Athletics |
| Dharambir | Para-Athletics |
| Pranav Soorma | Para-Athletics |
| H Hokato Sema | Para-Athletics |
| Simran | Para-Athletics |
| Navdeep | Para-Athletics |
| Nitesh Kumar | Para-Badminton |
| Thulasimathi Murugesan | Para-Badminton |
| Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan | Para-Badminton |
| Manisha Ramadass | Para-Badminton |
| Kapil Parmar | Para-Judo |
| Mona Agarwal | Para-Shooting |
| Rubina Francis | Para-Shooting |
| Swapnil Kusale | Shooting |
| Sarabjot Singh | Shooting |
| Abhay Singh | Squash |
| Sajan Prakash | Swimming |
| Aman Sehrawat | Wrestling |
Arjuna Award (lifetime)
| Sportsperson | Discipline |
| Sucha Singh | Athletics |
| Murlikant Petkar | Para-Swimming |
Dronacharya Award (Regular Category)
| Coach | Discipline |
| Subhash Rana | Para-Shooting |
| Deepali Deshpande | Shooting |
| Sandeep Sangwan | Hockey |
Dronacharya Award (Lifetime Category)
| Coach | Discipline |
| S Muralidharan | Badminton |
| Armando Agnelo Colaco | Football |
National Sports Awards
National Sports Awards are given for significant contribution in the field of sports in India. In this, players, coaches or organizations are honored with six different awards for their achievements and contribution to the development of Indian sports.
The National Sports Awards of India include six awards. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy (also known as Maka Trophy) and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan. Apart from these, another lifetime award is given in the name of Dhyan Chand Award. This award is given for lifetime contribution in the development of sports. This time no one was given this award in this category.
The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award has been given along with the six National Sports Awards since 2004.
Last year, 26 players got Arjuna Award
Last year, 26 players including cricketer Mohammad Shami got Arjuna Award. While 5 coaches got Dronacharya Award. Badminton star pair Satwik Sairaj and Chirag Shetty were given Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
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