Manu Bhaker, Gukesh Among Four Athletes Honored with Khel Ratna

The Ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports has announced the winners for the National Sports Awards 2024. The roster of awardees includes notable names like Manu Bhaker, D Gukesh, an internationally renowned chess talent, Harmanpreet Singh, a leading hockey player, and Praveen Kumar, an award-winning para-athlete, who will show gracing with the eminent Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.

The President of India will confer awards on January 17, 2025, at 11 a.m. during a ceremony at Rashtrapathi Bhavan for exceptional contributions in Indian sports.

This year's awardees perfectly encapsulate India's splendid progress in many sports. Bhaker has been accomplished in shooting, Gukesh has achieved a fabulous feat in chess, Harmanpreet has been an inspiration to Indian hockey through his leadership, and Praveen Kumar has made an inspiring journey. All these apart from the ceremony to be held later in the day to announce more awards like Arjuna and Dronacharya Awards as a tribute to India's commitment towards honoring excellence in sports.

List of award winners

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024

1. Shri Gukesh D - Chess
2. Shri Harmanpreet Singh - Hockey
3. Shri Praveen Kumar - Para-Athletics
4. Ms. Manu Bhaker - Shooting

Arjuna Award 2024

Athletics

1. Ms. Jyothi Yarraji
2. Ms. Annu Rani

Boxing

1. Ms. Nitu
2. Ms. Saweety

Chess

1. Ms. Vantika Agrawal

Hockey

1. Ms. Salima Tete
2. Shri Abhishek
3. Shri Sanjay
4. Shri Jarmanpreet Singh
5. Shri Sukhjeet Singh

Para-Archery

1. Shri Rakesh Kumar

Para-Athletics

1. Ms. Preeti Pal
2. Ms. Jeevanji Deepthi
3. Shri Ajeet Singh
4. Shri Sachin Sarjerao Khilari
5. Shri Dharambir
6. Shri Pranav Soorma
7. Shri H Hokato Sema
8. Ms. Simran
9. Shri Navdeep

Para-Badminton

1. Shri Nitesh Kumar
2. Ms. Thulasimathi Murugesan
3. Ms. Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan
4. Ms. Manisha Ramadass

Para-Judo

1. Shri Kapil Parmar

Para-Shooting

1. Ms. Mona Agarwal
2. Ms. Rubina Francis

Shooting

1. Shri Swapnil Suresh Kusale
2. Shri Sarabjot Singh

Squash

1. Shri Abhay Singh

Swimming

1. Shri Sajan Prakash

Wrestling

1. Shri Aman

Arjuna Award Lifetime

1. Shri Sucha Singh - Athletics
2. Shri Murlikant Rajaram Petkar - Para-Swimming

Dronacharya Award

Regular Category

1. Shri Subhash Rana - Para-Shooting
2. Ms. Deepali Deshpande - Shooting
3. Shri Sandeep Sangwan - Hockey

Lifetime Category

1. Shri S Muralidharan - Badminton
2. Shri Armando Agnelo Colaco - Football

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2024

1. Physical Education Foundation of India

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024

1. Chandigarh University - Overall Winner
2. Lovely Professional University (Punjab) - 1st Runner-Up
3. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar - 2nd Runner-Up

National Sports Awards

The greatest reward in Indian sports, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, is conferred to an athlete as a mark of distinction for extraordinary accomplishments in his or her chosen field. This honor indicates excellence sustained over four preceding years.

The Arjuna Award is presented for an outstanding performance in sports or games to athletes considered to have demonstrated merit in performance along with excellent leadership, sportsmanship, and discipline. This award is given based on the performance in the last four years.

The Arjuna Award comes with a Lifetime Achievement award granted to those retired athletes who have shown brilliance not only in their sporting careers but also have demonstrated their contribution to sports after retirement. This award keeps them motivated to continue working for the sporting community.

Dronacharya award to distinguished coaches in sports and games recognizes coaches whose consistent efforts have guided their wards to excel at international levels. The abiding parameters for this honor remain their commitment and excellence in moulding talent.

Finally, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy gets given to the high-performing university in the Khelo India University Games. This trophy honors the lofty institutions nurturing talent and contributing to the field of sports development at grassroots levels.

These awards actually inspire and applaud the achievement of excellence in Indian sports all over.