National Sports Awards 2024: Khel Ratna for Manu Bhaker, Harmanpreet Singh, Gukesh D, and Praveen Kumar
Patiala, 03 December (Sports Desk)
Manu Bhaker, Harmanpreet Singh, Gukesh D, and Praveen Kumar have been selected for the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, India’s highest sporting honor. The awards will be presented by the President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on January 17.
Khel Ratna Awardees:
- Manu Bhaker (Shooting): The 22-year-old shooter made history at the Paris 2024 Olympics, becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal with a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event. She later secured another bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed team event with Sarabjot Singh, becoming the first Indian athlete since independence to win two medals in a single Olympic Games.
- Harmanpreet Singh (Hockey): Harmanpreet Singh captained the Indian hockey team to their second consecutive Olympic bronze medal at Paris 2024. He was the top scorer of the tournament with 10 goals and is recognized as one of the best drag-flickers in the sport.
- Gukesh D (Chess): The 18-year-old Gukesh became the 2024 world chess champion in Singapore, making him the youngest ever to achieve this feat and only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand. He was also part of the gold-winning Indian men’s team at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
- Praveen Kumar (Para-Athletics): Praveen Kumar won gold in the men’s high jump T64 class at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, setting an Asian record. This was his second Paralympic medal, following his silver at Tokyo 2020.
While Neeraj Chopra won silver in javelin at Paris 2024, he was not eligible for another Khel Ratna as he has already received the award.
See this link also…..A Golden Year for Indian Sports: From World Cup Glory to Olympic Milestones
Arjuna Awardees:
Several other athletes who achieved significant success in 2024 will be conferred with the Arjuna Award, India’s second-highest sporting honour. These include Olympic medalists Swapnil Kusale (Shooting) and Aman Sehrawat (Wrestling), along with Asian Games medalists Jyothi Yarraji (Athletics), Annu Rani (Athletics), and Salima Tete (Hockey), and Sarabjot Singh (Shooting). A full list of Arjuna awardees is provided below.
Other National Sports Awards:
The National Sports Awards also recognize coaches with the Dronacharya Award and the top-performing university at the Khelo India University Games with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.
National Sports Awards 2024 Winners List:
- Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award:
- Gukesh D (Chess)
- Harmanpreet Singh (Hockey)
- Praveen Kumar (Para-Athletics)
- Manu Bhaker (Shooting)
- Arjuna Award:
- Jyothi Yarraji (Athletics)
- Annu Rani (Athletics)
- Nitu Ghanghas (Boxing)
- Saweety Boora (Boxing)
- Vantika Agrawal (Chess)
- Salima Tete (Hockey)
- Abhishek (Hockey)
- Sanjay (Hockey)
- Jarmanpreet Singh (Hockey)
- Sukhjeet Singh (Hockey)
- Rakesh Kumar (Para-Archery)
- Preeti Pal (Para-Athletics)
- Jeevanji Deepthi (Para-Athletics)
- Ajeet Singh (Para-Athletics)
- Sachin Sarjerao Khilari (Para-Athletics)
- Dharambir (Para-Athletics)
- Pranav Soorma (Para-Athletics)
- Hokato Hotozhe Sema (Para-Athletics)
- Simran Sharma (Para-Athletics)
- Navdeep Singh (Para-Athletics)
- Nitesh Kumar (Para-Badminton)
- Thulasimathi Murugesan (Para-Badminton)
- Nithya Sre Sivan (Para-Badminton)
- Manisha Ramadass (Para-Badminton)
- Kapil Parmar (Para-Judo)
- Mona Agarwal (Para-Shooting)
- Rubina Francis (Para-Shooting)
- Swapnil Kusale (Shooting)
- Sarabjot Singh (Shooting)
- Abhay Singh (Squash)
- Sajan Prakash (Swimming)
- Aman Sehrawat (Wrestling)
- Arjuna Awards (Lifetime):
- Sucha Singh (Athletics)
- Murlikant Petkar (Para-Swimming)
- Dronacharya Award (Regular Category):
- Subhash Rana (Para-Shooting)
- Deepali Deshpande (Shooting)
- Sandeep Sangwan (Hockey)
- Dronacharya Award (Lifetime Category):
- S Muralidharan (Badminton)
- Armando Colaco (Football)
- Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar:
- Physical Education Foundation of India
- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy:
- Chandigarh University (Overall winner)
- Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runner-up)
- Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (2nd runner-up)
