Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna & Arjuna Awards 2024 List:
The Indian government has decided to confer the Khel Ratna Award to Manu Bhaker, D. Gukesh, along with two other athletes. Similarly, 32 athletes are honored with the Arjuna Award. Besides Manu Bhaker and D. Gukesh, hockey player Harmanpreet Singh and para-athlete Praveen Kumar are also awarded the Khel Ratna Award. Moreover, 32 athletes receive the Arjuna Award.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2024 today (January 2). The award recipients will be presented by the President of India at a special ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17, 2025 (Friday) at 11 AM.
Based on the committee's recommendations and thorough vetting, the government has resolved to confer the awards on the following players, coaches, universities, and institutions.
No Awards for Cricket
This year, neither the Khel Ratna nor the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna included any awards for cricket players, which was surprising. Furthermore, no individual from cricket featured in the coach category.
Recipients of Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024
1. D. Gukesh (Chess)2. Harmanpreet Singh (Hockey)3. Praveen Kumar (Para Athletics)4. Manu Bhaker (Shooting)
Meet the 4 Athletes Honored with 'Khel Ratna'
Manu Bhaker carved a niche at the Paris Olympics first by securing a podium in the 10-meter air pistol event, followed by clinching the second bronze medal in the 10-meter mixed team event alongside Sarabjot Singh. This achievement marked her as the first Indian player to win two medals in a single session of this grand event.
D. Gukesh emerged as the youngest world champion in the history of chess. The 18-year-old from Chennai became a new role model when he bested China's Ding Liren at the World Chess Championship in Singapore in 2024. Gukesh was considered a strong contender even before the 14-round title match, which added to the pressure. He claimed the world championship by winning in the third, eleventh, and fourteenth rounds.
Source: aajtak
The Indian team, under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Singh, proved their prowess by securing a bronze at the Paris Olympics, reinforcing that the Tokyo Games bronze wasn't just a fluke. Harmanpreet scored 10 goals at the Paris Olympics, which also earned him the FIH Male Player of the Year award for the third time.
Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Praveen Kumar struck gold at the Paris Olympics 2024 by setting a new Asian record in the men's High Jump-T64 category. This category includes athletes who rely on prosthetic legs due to the absence of one or both legs below the knee.
Discover the Arjuna Award Recipients
1. Jyothi Yarraji (Athletics)2. Annu Rani (Athletics)3. Neetu (Boxing)4. Sweety (Boxing)5. Vantika Agrawal (Chess)6. Salima Tete (Hockey)7. Abhishek (Hockey)8. Sanjay (Hockey)9. Jarmanpreet Singh (Hockey)10. Sukhjit Singh (Hockey)11. Rakesh Kumar (Para Archery)12. Preeti Pal (Para Athletics)13. Jeevanjee Deepti (Para Athletics)14. Ajit Singh (Para Athletics)15. Sachin Sarjerao Khilari (Para Athletics)16. Dharmabir (Para Athletics)17. Pranav Suresh (Para Athletics)18. H. Hokato Sema (Para Athletics)19. Simran Ji (Para Athletics)20. Navdeep (Para Athletics)21. Nitish Kumar (Para Badminton)22. Thulsimathi Murugesan (Para Badminton)23. Nithya Sree Sumathi Sivan (Para Badminton)24. Manisha Ramdas (Para Badminton)25. Kapil Parmar (Para Judo)26. Mona Agrawal (Para Shooting)27. Rubina Francis (Para Shooting)28. Swapnil Suresh Kusale (Shooting)29. Sarabjot Singh (Shooting)30. Abhay Singh (Squash)31. Sajan Prakash (Swimming)32. Aman (Wrestling)
Arjuna Award for Lifetime Contribution in Sports Excellence
1. Sucha Singh (Athletics)2. Murlikant Rajaram Petkar (Para-Swimming)
Dronacharya Award (Regular Category)
1. Subhash Rana (Para-Shooting)2. Deepali Deshpande (Shooting)3. Sandeep Sangwan (Hockey)
Dronacharya Award (Lifetime Category)
1. S. Muralidharan (Badminton)2. Armando Agnelo Colaco (Football)
National Sports Promotion Awards
1. Physical Education Foundation of India
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024
1. Chandigarh University (Overall Winner University)2. Lovely Professional University (1st Runner-Up University)3. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (Second Runner-Up University)
