Hardik Singh, vice-captain of the Indian men’s hockey team, is the only athlete whose name is proposed for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna honour. No cricket has been shortlisted for the National Sports Awards with Mohammed Shami remaining the last cricketer to receive the honour in 2023.
A selection panel, which comprised of Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) vice-president Gagan Narang, former badminton player Aparna Popat and former hockey player MM Somaya, recommended the names in a meeting in New Delhi on December 24.
Chess sensation Divya Deshmukh and shooter Mehuli Ghosh are among the 24 sportspersons shortlisted for the Arjuna Awards.
Hardik has been a key figure in India’s midfield in hockey for many years now, playing an instrumental role in India’s Olympics medal-winning campaigns in Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024. He was also a part of the squad which won Gold in the Asia Cup this year.
The Khel Ratna, which is India’s biggest sporting accolade carries a cash award of ₹25 lakh along with a medallion and citation while Arjuna Award recipients get ₹15 lakh.
List of nominees:
Khel Ratna: Hardik Singh (Hockey)
Arjuna Awards: Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics), Priyanka (Athletics), Narender (Boxing), Vidit Gujrathi (Chess), Divya Deshmukh (Chess), Dhanush Srikanth (Deaf Shooting), Pranati Nayak (Gymnastics), Rajkumar Pal (Hockey), Surjeet (Kabaddi), Nirmala Bhati (Kho Kho), Rudransh Khandelwal (Para-Shooting), Ekta Bhyan (Para-athletics), Padmanabh Singh (Polo), Arvind Singh (Rowing), Akhil Sheoran (Shooting), Mehuli Ghosh (Shooting), Sutirtha Mukherjee (Table Tennis), Sonam Malik (Wrestling), Aarti (Yoga), Treesa Jolly (Badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (Badminton), Lalremsiami (Hockey), Mohammed Afsal (Athletics), Pooja (Kabaddi)
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