Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan hosted sports heroes of the nation to confer them with the National Sports Awards, know the list of the winners for 2021
The president of India Shri Ramnath Kovind on Saturday presented 12 athletes with the Khel Ratna award which is the highest prestigious sports award in India. In attendance of 62 athletes, the awards that were distributed are the Dhayanchand Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, and Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The list of recipients to their categories is as follows.
National Sports Awards 2021 Winners List: Major Dhayanchand Khel Ratna Award
1. Neeraj Chopra – Javelin
The man needs no introduction, Neeraj won the gold in Olympics with a throw of 87.5 m. He brought a gold medal back into the country after a hiatus of 13 years. At the age of 23, he was conferred with the Khel Ratna Award.
2. Mithali Raj- Cricket
Mithali Raj’s contribution to Indian cricket cannot be ignored. She holds the record for the most international runs in Women’s cricket. It was under Mithali’s captaincy that India reached the finals of the World Cup on 2 occasions. She won her Arjuna award back in 2003.
3. Ravi Kumar Dahiya- Wrestling
Ravi Kumar Dahiya became a household name after his heroics in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 23-year-old won a silver medal for the nation. His efforts are rightly rewarded with the Khel Ratna Award.
4. Lovlina Borgohain- Boxing
Lovlina was a complete surprise packet in this year’s Olympics. When all the eyes were on Mary Kom, here came a fearless boxer, who knocked her opponents with brutality. Lovlina won a bronze in the Olympics.
5. PR Sreejesh- Hockey
If the Indian hockey team is a body then Sreejesh is the spine of it. Sreejesh with his heroics in front of the goal made sure there is no getting past him. He was one of the key figures in India’s triumph in the Olympics. He also won the FIH goalkeeper of the year 2020-2021 award for the best male goalkeeper.
Avani Lekhara- ShootingWhen it comes to the Paralympics, India surprised everyone by winning 5 gold medals, and one of them belongs to Avani Lekhara. The 20-year-old won the gold in the 10m Air Rifle competition.
7. Sumit Antil- Javelin
It’s not just Neeraj who brought glory in Javelin, but Sumit Antil also won a gold medal in Javelin at the 2020 Paralympics. The 23-year-old won the gold in style with a world record throw of 68.55m.
8. Pramod Bhagat – Badminton
Pramod is another star who emerged during the Paralympics 2020. Diagnosed with Polio, Pramod is currently ranked 1 in Badminton’s ranking. He won the gold in this year’s Paralympics.
9. Krishna Nagar -Badminton
Another Khel Ratna belongs to Badminton. Krishna Nagar won gold in Men’s singles SH6 category at the Paralympics 2020. He is ranked 2nd in the World next to Pramod Bhagat.
10. Manish Narwal – Shooting
Manish Narwal won gold in a 50 m pistol at the 2020 Paralympics.
11. Sunil Chhetri- Football
One can agree that it has been a very long wait to see Sunil Chhetri be conferred with the Khel Ratna. Chhetri is the 2nd highest-joint goalscorer in world football. Highest goalscorer for India. He has led the team from the front and did everything possible to put them on a global map.
12 Manpreet Singh
Another Hockey player to be awarded the Khel Ratna is Manpreet Singh. He along with Sreejesh were chosen for the award. Manpreet led the team in this Olympics and returned home with a bronze medal.
Arjuna Awardees
The list of athletes awarded with the Arjuna Award is as follows.
- Arpinder Singh
- Simranjit Kaur,
- Shikhar Dhawan
- Bhavani Devi
- Monika Vandana Katariya
- Sandeep Narwal
- Hiimani Uttam Parab
- Abhishek Verma
- Ankita Raina
- Deepak Punia
- Dilpreet Singh
- Harman Preet Singh
- Rupinder Pal Singh
- Surender Kumar
- Amit Rohidas
- Birendra Lakra Sumit
- Nilakanta Sharma
- Hardik Singh
- Vivek Sagar Prasad
- Gurjant Singh
- Mandeep Singh
- Shamsher Singh
- Lalit Kumar Upadhyay
- Varun Kumar
- Simranjeet Singh
- Yogesh Kathuniya
- Nishad Kumar
- Praveen Kumar
- Suhash Yathiraj
- Singhraj Adhana
- Bhavina Patel
- Harvinder Singh
- Sharad Kumar