President of India, Droupadi Murmu conferred India's top sporting achievers at the National Sports Awards, held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Badminton pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were bestowed with the highest sporting honor of India - Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
Cricketer Mohammed Shami and para-archer Sheetal Devi were amongst the recipients of the Arjuna Award.
Chess coach RB Ramesh and Kabaddi coach Edachery Bhaskaran were presented with the Dronacharya Award.
In a grand ceremony on Tuesday (9 January) at Rashtrapati Bhawan, President of India Droupadi Murmu presented the esteemed National Sports Awards to the country's finest athletes.
Cricketer Mohammed Shami Among Arjuna Awardees
Cricketer Mohammed Shami was conferred with the the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award for his exploits at the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023.
Shami emerged as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament. He claimed 24 wickets at an average of 10.70 and a strike rate of 12.20 in seven games, with the best figures coming from a 7/57 effort.
In addition to recording the greatest bowling figures by an Indian in World Cup history, Shami claimed three five-wicket hauls and one four-wicket haul during the competition.
Other prominent athletes selected for the Arjuna award this year include para-archer Sheetal Devi, who earned two gold medals at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. She is the first international para-archer without upper limbs, because of a rare illness called phocomelia.
Boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin, who took home a bronze in last year's world championship, and wrestler Antim Panghal, a former junior world champion and bronze winner at the Asian Games, also won the Arjuna Award.
President Droupadi Murmu presents Arjuna Award to para-archer Sheetal Devi during the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2023 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.
Image: PTI
Archer Ojas Pravin was also conferred with the award for his performance at the 2023 Asian Games where he won two gold medals. Shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar who earned four medals at the Asiad also became the recipient of the prestigious award.
Acknowledgment was given to chess grandmaster R. Vaishali, who after Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika became the third Indian woman to hold the title of grandmaster.
Notable absentees included 19-year-old Esha Singh, a pistol shooting star who is participating in Jakarta for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers. Singh qualified for the Olympics in Paris by taking first place in both the individual and team 10m air pistol events.
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna for Sat-Chi
Shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have been bestowed with the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the highest sporting honour of India.
Chirag and Satwik were given the prestigious award for an outstanding 2023 in which they won the Indonesia Open Super 1000 title, the Asian Championships title, and their first Asian Games gold, a first for badminton for India.
Both athletes were not present at the ceremony as they are presently competing in the Malaysia Open Super 1000.
Dronacharya Award
Chess coach RB Ramesh, who trained Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali, and Kabaddi coach Edachery Bhaskaran are amongst the recipients of the Dronacharya Award.
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award
The late Savita Kanswal got the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, 2022. Her father Radheshyam Kanswal accepted the honor on behalf of his daughter (Land Adventure).
Kanswal was the first Indian woman to scale Mount Everest and Mount Makalu in a span of 16 days, lost her life in an avalanche in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi hills in October 2022.
Kanswal, then 25, had set a national record by hoisting the tricolour on Everest, the world's highest peak, in May 2022.
Parveen Singh, who successfully scaled 20 peaks, including the formidable Mt. Everest, a feat he accomplished twice, and the towering Mt Kanchenjunga was also given the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award. He was an important figure in the BSF Para-mountaineering Expedition to Mt. Bhagirathi II, helping to support two para-mountaineers by providing them with rope anchors.
In addition, Tulsi Chaitanya Mothukuri also received same award in honor of his outstanding achievements in the field of water adventure. A few of Mothukuri's incredible accomplishments include crossing the English Channel in 15 hours, 18 minutes, and 45 seconds, as well as the Gibraltar, Palk, and Catalina straits in 4 hours, 25 minutes, and 12 hours, 40 minutes, respectively.
Full List of the Award Recipients
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for 2023: Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (badminton).
Arjuna Awards: Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Murali Sreeshankar (athletics), Parul Chaudhary (athletics), Mohammad Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Mohammed Shami (cricket), Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Divyakriti Singh (equestrian dressage), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (hockey), Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pawan Kumar (kabaddi), Ritu Negi (kabaddi), Nasreen (kho-kho), Pinki (lawn bowls), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Esha Singh (shooting), Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (squash), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis), Sunil Kumar (wrestling), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Naorem Roshibina Devi (wushu), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (blind cricket), Prachi Yadav (para canoeing).
Dronacharya Award (regular category) for outstanding coaches: Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Mahaveer Prasad Saini (para athletics), Shivendra Singh (hockey), Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar (mallakhamb).
Dronacharya Award (life-time category) for outstanding coaches: Jaskirat Singh Grewal (golf), Bhaskaran E (kabaddi), Jayanta Kumar Pushilal (table tennis).
Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement: Manjusha Kanwar (badminton), Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey), Kavitha Selvaraj (kabaddi).
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (overall winner university); Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runner -up), Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runner-up).
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, 2022: Late Savita Kanswal (land adventure), Tulasi Chaitanya Mothukuri (Water Adventure), Anshu Kumar Tiwari and Parveen Singh (land adventure).
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