The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2023 on Wednesday. The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 9, 2024 (Tuesday) at 11:00 hours, as per a press release from the ministry.
Based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, the Government has decided to confer awards upon the following sportspersons, coaches and entities:
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (badminton).
Satwiksairaj and Chirag, popularly known as ‘Sat-Chi’ have secured three Badminton World Federation (BWF) titles this year, the Swiss Open, the Indonesia Open and the Korea Open. They also won India’s historic first-ever badminton gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and also the Asian Championships gold in April. (WATCH: ‘He’ll Bat, Don’t Worry,’ MI Owner Responds To Fan’s Request To Make Rohit Sharma Captain Again)
The duo in October became the first doubles pair in Indian badminton history to be ranked at world number one in BWF rankings. Last year, the Indian shuttlers were a part of the country’s historic, game-changing Thomas Cup win. They also bagged medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (gold) and World Championships (bronze).
Arjuna Award: Mohammed Shami (cricket), Ajay Reddy (blind cricket) Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Parul Chaudhary and Murali Sreeshankar (athletics), Mohd Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Divyakriti Singh and Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (hockey), Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pinky (lawn ball), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis), Esha Singh (shooting), Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (squash), Sunil Kumar (wrestling), Naorem Roshibina Devi (wushu), Prachi Yadav (para canoeing), Pawan Kumar (kabaddi), Ritu Negi (kabaddi), Nasreen (kho kho).
Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games 2023: Ganesh Prabhakaran (mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (para athletics), Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Shivendra Singh (hockey).
Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award: Kavita (kabaddi), Manjusha Kanwar (badminton) Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey). Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (winner), Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runners-up), Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runners-up)
National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.
‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’ is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over the period of the previous four years.
‘Arjuna Award for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games’ is given for good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
‘Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games’ is given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and for enabling sportspersons to excel in International events.
‘Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games’ is given to honour sportspersons who have contributed to sports through their performance and who continue to contribute to the promotion of sports events after their retirement.
The overall top-performing university in inter-university tournaments is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy. The applications were invited online and sportspersons/coaches/entities were permitted to self-apply through a dedicated Online Portal. A large number of applications/nominations were received for these awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committee headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, Retd. Judge, Supreme Court of India and consisting of members from eminent sportspersons, persons having experience in sports journalism and sports administrators.