Khel Ratna Award: Manu Bhaker and D Gukesh among the four honorees, 30 players to receive Arjuna Award

Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and world chess champion D Gukesh are among four sportspersons set to be honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award on January 17, as announced by the Sports Ministry on Thursday, January 2. Initially, Manu’s nomination for the Khel Ratna was notably absent from the list. The Arjuna Award will be given to 30 players.

Additional recipients of the Khel Ratna Award

Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and Paralympian Praveen Kumar will likewise be conferred the Khel Ratna Award. The President of India, Draupadi Murmu, will present these awards during a specially arranged ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on January 17.

The Sports Ministry’s statement says, “Following the recommendations of the Committee and subsequent scrutiny, the Government has decided to bestow awards upon the following sportspersons, coaches, universities, and entities.”

Manu Bhaker and Harmanpreet Singh’s heroics

Manu Bhaker won double Olympic medals in the Paris Olympic Games held in August-September. She finished third in 10m air pistol individual and mixed doubles. On the basis of her two medals, India won a total of 6 medals in the Paris Olympics.

Under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Singh, the Indian hockey team won bronze in Parithe Parismpics 2024 and gold in Asian Games 2022. At the same time, Harmanpreet has won the Player of the Year title at the FIH Awards three times.

Gukesh becomes the King of Chess at 18

18-year-old Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh won the World Chess Championship title on 11 December in Singapore. He defeated China’s defending champion Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 in the final. Gukesh has become the first player in the world to win the title at such a young age. Earlier in 1985, Russia’s Garry Kasparov won this title at the age of 22.

Praveen Kumar defied the odds

Para-athlete Praveen Kumar clinched the gold medal in the men’s high jump T64 category at the Paris Paralympics, achieving a jump of 2.08 meters and setting a new Asian record. This is Praveen’s second medal in the Paralympics; he previously earned a silver in the Tokyo Paralympics.

National Sports Awards

National Sports Awards are given for making noteworthy contributions in the field of sports in India. In which players, coaches or organisations are honoured with six different awards for their achievements and contribution to the development of Indian sports. The six major awards in the National Sports Awards of India are Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, Dhyan Chand Award, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy (also known as Maka Trophy) and National Sports Promotion Award.

Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna 2024 Awardees

Name	Sport
Manu Bhaker	Shooting
D Gukesh	Chess
Harmanpreet Singh	Hockey
Praveen Kumar	Para Athletics

List of Arjuna Awardees 2024

S. No.	Sportsperson	Sport
1	Ms. Jyothi Yarraji	Athletics
2	Ms. Annu Rani	Athletics
3	Ms. Nitu	Boxing
4	Ms. Saweety	Boxing
5	Ms. Vantika Agrawal	Chess
6	Ms. Salima Tete	Hockey
7	Shri Abhishek	Hockey
8	Shri Sanjay	Hockey
9	Shri Jarmanpreet Singh	Hockey
10	Shri Sukhjeet Singh	Hockey
11	Shri Rakesh Kumar	Para-Archery
12	Ms. Preeti Pal	Para-Athletics
13	Ms. Jeevanji Deepthi	Para-Athletics
14	Shri Ajeet Singh	Para-Athletics
15	Shri Sachin Sarjerao Khilari	Para-Athletics
16	Shri Dharambir	Para-Athletics
17	Shri Pranav Soorma	Para-Athletics
18	Shri H Hokato Sema	Para-Athletics
19	Ms. Simran	Para-Athletics
20	Shri Navdeep	Para-Athletics
21	Shri Nitesh Kumar	Para-Badminton
22	Ms. Thulasimathi Murugesan	Para-Badminton
23	Ms. Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan	Para-Badminton
24	Ms. Manisha Ramadass	Para-Badminton
25	Shri Kapil Parmar	Para-Judo
26	Ms. Mona Agarwal	Para-Shooting
27	Ms. Rubina Francis	Para-Shooting
28	Shri Swapnil Suresh Kusale	Shooting
29	Shri Sarabjot Singh	Shooting
30	Shri Abhay Singh	Squash
31	Shri Sajan Prakash	Swimming
32	Shri Aman	Wrestling