India's top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been nominated for the country's highest sporting honour - the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award.
Earlier this year, after winning the historic gold at the 2023 Asian Games, the pair became the first Indian doubles team to climb to number one in the BWF rankings, though they have currently slipped to the second spot.
Cricketer Mohammed Shami, chess grandmaster R Vaishali, wrestler Antim Panghal and athletes Parul Chaudhary and M Sreeshankar are among the 18 sportspersons nominated for the Arjuna award.
Full List of National Sports Awards nominations
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (badminton).
Arjuna Award: Mohammed Shami (cricket), Ajay Reddy (blind cricket) Ojas Pravin Deotale, Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Parul Chaudhary and M Sreeshankar (athletics), Mohd Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Divyakriti Singh and Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pinky (lawn ball), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis).
Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award: Kavita (kabaddi), Manjusha Kanwar (badminton) Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey).
Dronacharya Award: Ganesh Prabhakaran (mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (para athletics), Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Shivendra Singh (hockey).
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