Sports Ministry confirms Satwik, Chirag for Khel Ratna, Shami and 25 others for Arjuna award

NEW DELHI, December 20: The Sports Ministry on Wednesday officially endorsed the nominations for the annual sports awards, confirming the prestigious Khel Ratna honour for badminton players Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, along with the Arjuna award for 26 sports personalities, including fast bowler Mohammed Shami.

President Droupadi Murmu is set to confer the awards on these athletes at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 9.

Chirag and Satwik, both Asian Games gold medalists, World Championships bronze winners, and Commonwealth Games silver medalists, have been recognised for their outstanding achievements.

Meanwhile, 33-year-old Shami had an exceptional performance in the ODI World Cup, where India secured the runners-up position after losing to Australia in the final.

Shami emerged as the top wicket-taker in the World Cup, claiming 24 wickets in seven matches.

The athletes selected for this year’s Arjuna award include hockey players Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Sushila Chanu, archers Ojas Pravin Deotale and Aditi Gopichand Swami, boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin, chess player R Vaishali, golfer Diksha Dagar, shooters Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Esha Singh, wrestlers Antim Panghal and Sunil Kumar, paddler Ayhika Mukherjee and para archer Sheetal Devi, among others.

The athletes were nominated for the awards by a government panel on December 13.

The ministry also cleared five coaches for Dronacharya award in the regular category and three in life-time category.

The Dyan Chand award in the life-time category will be conferred to three persons.

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar is the recipient of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023, while Lovely Professional University, Punjab and Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra are the first and second runner-ups.

National Sports Awards are given every year to recognise and reward excellence in sports.

(ToI With PTI Inputs)