D Gukesh, Manu Bhaker, and two other athletes received the Khel Ratna Award.

D Gukesh, Manu Bhaker, and Others Honored with the Prestigious Khel Ratna Award

Written by: Supriya Kadu

Edited by: Pinky Deshmukh

Last Updated: 2025-01-02 13:18:50

Summary: Manu Bhaker, D Gukesh, Harmanpreet Singh, and Paralympian Praveen Kumar to receive Khel Ratna.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports Awards for 2024. Manu Bhaker, D Gukesh, Harmanpreet Singh, and Praveen Kumar have received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.

Manu's name was missing from the list of nominees for the Khel Ratna, the country's top sporting accolade. Bhaker, 22, became India's first athlete to win two medals in a single Olympics edition. She won bronze in the 10m air pistol individual and mixed team events in August.

The 18-year-old Gukesh, on the other hand, helped the Indian team win a record gold in the Chess Olympiad last year and became the youngest-ever World champion.

The Indian hockey team won its second straight bronze under Hamranpreet's leadership. Praveen, a para high-jumper, won the T64 title at the Paralympics in Paris.

President Droupadi Murmu will present the award on January 17, during a specially planned event held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

The ministry said, “Based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, the Government has decided to confer awards upon the following sportspersons, coaches, universities, and entities.”

Athletes who depend on a prosthetic leg for running and have one or both legs missing below the knee fall under the T64 classification.

While these four will receive the Khel Ratna Award, the other 32 athletes, 17 of them para-athletes, will receive the Arjuna Award.

Arjuna Awards Athletes:

Jyothi Yarraji - Athletics
Annu Rani - Athletics
Nitu - Boxing
Saweety - Boxing
Vantika Agrawal - Chess
Salima Tete - Hockey
Abhishek - Hockey
Sanjay - Hockey
Jarmanpreet Singh - Hockey
Sukhjeet Singh - Hockey
Rakesh Kumar - Para-Archery
Preeti Pal - Para-Athletics
Jeevanji Deepthi - Para-Athletics
Ajeet Singh - Para-Athletics
Sachin Sarjerao - Para-Athletics
Khilari, Dharambir - Para-Athletics
Pranav Soorma - Para-Athletics
H Hokato Sema - Para-Athletics
Simran - Para-Athletics
Navdeep - Para-Athletics
Nitesh Kumar - Para-Badminton
Thulasimathi Murugesan - Para-Badminton
Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan - Para-Badminton
Manisha Ramadass - Para-Badminton
Kapil Parmar - Para-Judo
Mona Agarwal - Para-Shooting
Rubina Francis - Para-Shooting
Swapnil Suresh Kusale - Shooting
Sarabjot Singh - Shooting
Abhay Singh - Squash
Sajan Prakash - Swimming
Aman - Wrestling

Arjuna Lifetime Awards: Sucha Singh (Athletics), Murlikant Rajaram Petkar (Para-Swimming)

Dronacharya Awards for Outstanding Coaches:

Subhash Rana - Para-Shooting
Deepali Deshpande - Shooting
Sandeep Sangwan - Hockey
S Muralidharan - Badminton
Armando Agnelo Colaco - Football