Desk tennis ace Achanta Sharath Kamal has been beneficial for this yr’s Main Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, the nation’s highest sporting honour. The awards committee, headed by Justice (retd) AM Khanwilkar, selected Sharath because the lone nominee, which makes him solely the second paddler to bag the award, Manika Batra having gained in 2020.
Sharath, the 40-year-old flagbearer of Indian TT, excelled at this yr’s Commonwealth Video games (CWG) in Birmingham, bagging three gold medals (males’s singles, combined doubles, males’s group) and a silver (males’s doubles). He additionally has two Asian Video games bronze medals, each gained in 2018.
The committee additionally shortlisted 25 athletes for the Arjuna award. They embody serial nationwide document breaker in 3000m steeplechase, Avinash Sable, boxer Amit Panghal and triple jumper Eldhose Paul. Sable, by successful silver on the CWG, grew to become the primary non-Kenyan to medal within the occasion since 1998. Panghal put aside the frustration of a first-round exit on the Tokyo Olympics with gold in Birmingham.
Paul had a breakout yr that noticed him change into the primary Indian to qualify for the triple leap closing on the Eugene World Championships. He then leapt 17.03m in Birmingham to change into the primary Indian to win the boys’s triple leap on the CWG.
Boxer Nikhat Zareen has additionally been beneficial for the Arjuna following her twin gold, on the World Championships and CWG. Different Commonwealth medallists—judoka Shushila Devi, weightlifter Vikas Thakur and garden bowler Nayanmoni Saikia—are additionally in line for nation’s second-highest sporting honour.
Wrestlers Anshu Malik and Sarita Mor, each World Championships medallists, have additionally been shortlisted for the Arjuna award. Anshu additionally had a silver on the Birmingham CWG whereas Mor gained bronze at this yr’s Asian Championships.
India cricket captain Rohit Sharma’s coach Dinesh Lad has been beneficial for the Dronacharya Award within the lifetime class. Archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja, boxing coach Mohammad Ali Qamar, rifle coach Suma Shirur (para taking pictures), and wrestler Bajrang Punia’s coach Sujit Mann have been beneficial for the Dronacharya Award within the common class.
This yr’s nationwide sports activities awards promise to be a leaner affair after as many as 12 had been awarded the Khel Ratna and 35 the Arjuna final yr, thanks largely to India’s best-ever medal haul on the Olympics and Paralympics.