National Sports Awards: From Deepti Sharma to Neeraj Chopra, list of players nominated so far

Last updated on February 14th, 2023 at 11:04 am

As the government gradually eases pandemic lockdown restrictions in the country, the sports industry is slowly getting back on its feet after weeks of shutdown. Amid the development, the government on May 5 opened the nominations for 2020 National Sports Awards, which takes place on August 29 every year. While the deadline for the nominations was till June 3, the sports ministry extended the deadline for submitting applications till June 22.

Furthermore, the ministry has allowed the athletes to self-nominate taking note of the difficulties they are facing in getting recommenders due to the lockdown.

During the annual Sports Awards ceremony which takes place at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the President presents the deserving athletes and coaches with a number of awards which includes the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (India’s highest sporting honour), Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award, Dronacharya Award, Rashtriya Khel ProtsahanPuruskar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy, and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.

From Athletics to Cricket, several noteworthy sports players have been nominated for the national sports awards this year for their outstanding performances on the field.

In Cricket, Vice-Captain of the Indian men’s team Rohit Sharma has been nominated by the BCCI for the Khel Ratna Award. Besides Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Deepti Sharma, and Ishant Sharma have been nominated for the Arjuna Award.

Indian Women’s Hockey team captain Rani Rampal has been picked for Khel Ratna Award. For Arjuna Award, popular hockey players Vandana Kataria, Harmanpreet Singh, and Monika have been nominated.
Young Pistol shooters Saurabh Chaudhary, ElavenilValarivan, and Manu Bhaker along with Gold-medallist Abhishek Verma have been nominated for the Arjuna Award.

24-year-old feisty boxer Amit Panghal and Gold medal winner Vikas Krishan have been picked by the Boxing Federation of India for the Khel Ratna Award. For the Arjuna Award, the BFI has nominated celebrated boxers LovlinaBorgohain, Manish Kaushik, and Simranjit Kaur.

22-year-old javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is the athletics federation’s pick for the Khel Ratna Award. Top-notch athletes Dutee Chand, Manjit Singh, Arpinder Singh, and PU Chitra have been nominated by the federation for the Arjuna Award.

Table Tennis player Manika Batra has been considered for Khel Ratna Award this year for her record-breaking performance in the field over the past years. Along with Batra, world-famous table tennis players Manav Thakkar, Madhurika Patkar and Suthirtha Mukherjee have been nominated for the Arjuna Award.

Weightlifting champions MirabaiChanu, Ragala Venkat Rahul, and Punam Yadav have been selected for the Arjuna Award this year by the Indian Weightlifting Federation.

Read: After much speculation, Vijay Mallya might not be brought back ‘anytime soon’

Renowned Wrestler and world champion VineshPhogat has been nominated for the Khel Ratna award this year. For Arjuna Award, the wrestling federation has picked Sakshi Malik, Rahul Aware, Deepak Punia, Sandeep Tomar, and Greco-Roman wrestler Naveen.

The awards are given away on August 29 every year on the birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand, one of the greatest hockey players in the world history. The day is also celebrated as National Sports Day in India. With lockdown restrictions easing, the awards ceremony is hoping to take place as scheduled.