India's star badminton men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been nominated for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The government has taken this decision in view of their remarkable performance in the last two years.

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If Satwik-Chirag gets Khel Ratna Award, then they can become the first doubles pair to achieve this feat. This pair won the gold medal in the Asian Games this year, while last year they had also targeted gold in the Commonwealth Games. This pair was also successful in becoming number one for the first time this year. This is the reason why they have been nominated for Khel Ratna award.

The Sports Ministry has constituted a 12-member committee to decide on the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Award this year. Retired Supreme Court Justice AM Khanwilkar will head the committee. Apart from him, there are six former international athletes in this committee. Hockey player Dhanraj Pillay, former paddler Kamlesh Mehta, ex-boxer Akhil Kumar, women shooter and current national coach Shuma Shirur, former cricketer Anjum Chopra, badminton player Tripti Murgunde and powerlifter Farman Pasha are also part of the panel

Full List of National Sports Awards Nominations

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: Satwiksairaj 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).

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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).

Four players, including Manu Bhaker, who won two Olympic medals at the Paris Olympics 2024, and World Chess Championship winner Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh will be honored with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024. The National Sports Award 2024 has been announced by the Sports Ministry on Thursday.

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Apart from Manu and Gukesh, Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and Paralympian Praveen Kumar will also be given the Khel Ratna Award 2024. 

The award ceremony will take place on January 17, 2025, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Khel Ratna Award 2024: Winners List

Manu won double medal in Paris Olympics

Manu Bhaker, 22, became the first player from independent India to win two medals in the same Olympics when she won bronze medals in the 10m air pistol individual and mixed team events at the Paris Games in August. On the basis of his two medals, India won a total of 6 medals in the Paris.

18 year old Gukesh is the new youngest world champion

18-year-old Indian Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest world champion and was also instrumental in the Indian team's historic gold medal in the Chess Olympiad last year. He defeated defending champion Ding Liren of China in the final.

Gukesh has become the first player in the world to win the title at such a young age. Earlier in 1985, Russia's Garry Kasparov had won this title at the age of 22.

Harmanpreet-led India won bronze in Paris

Under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Singh, the Indian hockey team won a medal for the second consecutive Olympics. They won the bronze medal in the Paris Olympics and the gold medal in the Asian Games 2022. At the same time, Harmanpreet has won the title of Player of the Year at FIH Awards three times.

Praveen won Paralympic gold with a record in high jump

Para high jumper Praveen Kumar surprised everyone by winning the gold medal with an Asian record in the men's high jump at the Paris Paralympics. Praveen, who won a silver medal in the Tokyo Paralympics, gave the best performance of his career in the T64 event and registered his name in history by clearing a height of 2.08 meters.

India's badminton men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are selected for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the country's highest sports prize, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announced on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Shami alongside 25 other athletes win the Arjuna Award.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won at the Asian Games, Asian Championships, Swiss Open, Indonesia Open, and Korea Open and were runners-up at the China Masters. The pair also rose to No.1 in the BWF world rankings this year, the first for an Indian doubles pair. They are also the first badminton doubles pair to get the award.

Cricketer Md Shami, the highest wicket-taker in the ODI World Cup with 24 scalps, featured among 26 sportspersons, who will receive the Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in sports and games in 2023.

After watching the first four games from the sidelines, Shami made an entry in India's fifth league stage match against New Zealand and finished with 24 wickets in seven matches with the best figures of 7/57.

The athletes were nominated for the awards by a government panel on December 13. The ministry also cleared five coaches for the Dronacharya award in the regular category and three in the lifetime category.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2023

1. Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty (Badminton)

2. Rankireddy Satwik Sai Raj (Badminton)

Arjuna Awards

1. Ojas Pravin Deotale (Archery)

2. Aditi Gopichand Swami (Archery)

3. Sreeshankar M (Athletics)

4. Parul Chaudhary (Athletics)

5. Mohameed Hussamuddin (Boxing)

6. R Vaishali (Chess)

7. Mohammed Shami (Cricket)

8. Anush Agarwalla (Equestrian)

9. Divyakriti Singh (Equestrian Dressage)

10. Diksha Dagar (Golf)

11. Krishan Bahadur Pathak (Hockey)

12. Pukhrambam Sushila Chanu (Hockey)

13. Pawan Kumar (Kabbadi)

14. Ritu Negi (Kabbadi)

15. Nasreen (Kho-Kho)

16. Pinki (Lawn Bowls)

17. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (Shooting)

18. Esha Singh (Shooting)

19. Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (Squash)

20. Ayhika Mukherjee (Table Tennis)

21. Sunil Kumar (Wrestling)

22. Antim (Wrestling)

23. Naorem Roshibina Devi (Wushu)

24. Sheetal Devi (Para Archery)

25. Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (Blind Cricket)

26. Prachi Yadav (Para Canoeing)

Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches

1. Lalit Kumar (Wrestling)

2. R B Ramesh (Chess)

3. Mahaveer Prasad Saini (Para Athletics)

4. Shivendra Singh (Hockey)

5. Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar (Mallakhamb)

World No. 1 in both mixed and team debutant compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam has missed out on the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award this year despite a sensational performance at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. She has expressed disappointment at being ignored.

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In the last 6 months, Jyothi has won a total of 13 international medals, which are - three golds (individual, team and mixed team) at the Asiad, one gold and silver at the World Championships, four gold and two bronzes at the World Cup and a gold and silver medal in the Asian Championships. She won seven World Championship medals and three Asiad gold medals. She has also won 53 International and 62 National medals by the age of 27.

Jyothi did her own assessment to arrive at the total number of points earned as per the Khel Ratna criteria. He told Times of India, 'I have a total of 148.74 marks which is the highest among all the applicants and much more than the marks given to Satwik and Chirag. A double gold medal at the Asiad earned me 30 points and a women's team gold from the mixed team earned me 22 and 20 points respectively.'

Jyothi further added, "I am deeply disappointed and disheartened over the snub. I believe my achievements speak for me. I want to know the reasons from the sports ministry, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the awards selection committee as to why my name wasn't considered for the Khel Ratna despite logging the highest points,"

When TOI contacted ministry and SAI officials, they declined to comment on Jyothi's removal from the Khel Ratna Award list. "We wouldn't like to comment," a SAI's spokesperson said. Surekha said she would be approaching the court if she wasn't offered a proper explanation. "I have that option but that's the last one. First of all, I want to know the reasons why my name wasn't considered before approaching the court."

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The ace badminton men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has been recommended for the Khel Ratna Award by a 12-member awards selection committee.

The Indian Sports Ministry had announced the National Sports Awards 2022 winners list on 14 November. This time India's legendary table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal will be given the Khel Ratna Award. Along with this, an emerging badminton player from the country, Lakshya Sen will be awarded with Arjuna Award on Wednesday, November 30. President Droupadi Murmu will distribute the sports awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma's childhood coach Dinesh Lad will be given the Life Time Achievement Award. This year only one person is getting the award from the world of cricket and Rohit's coach is included in them. Apart from him, no other cricketer is involved in this.

Sharath is the only player to get the Khel Ratna this year. Meanwhile, he also won three gold medals in the Commonwealth Games this year. This veteran player had won gold medals in the men's team, mixed team, and men's singles categories. "Honestly, I was expecting it. But what has been a pleasant surprise is the fact that I will be the only one receiving the award this time. I feel completely humbled for being chosen for this honor," said Sharath Kamal.

At the same time, India's rising boxer Nikhat Zareen will also be awarded the Arjuna Award this year. Nikhat won the gold medal in the World Championship this year. While Lakshya won the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games played in Birmingham this year. Last year, he won the bronze medal in the World Championship.

National Sports Awards 2022 winners list:

President Droupadi Murmu will present the Major Dhyan Chand Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2022 to table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal at a ceremony held at  Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on November 30.

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However, Sharath is the only sportsperson to receive the Khel Ratna this year. Achanta won the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022. While 25 other sportspersons will be honored with the Arjuna Award, including badminton players Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, women boxer Nikhat Zareen, and athletes Eldhose Paul and Avinash Sable.

Meanwhile, awards will be given to the sports award winners in a special function organized at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Jiwanjot Singh Teja (Archery), Mohammad Ali Qamar (Boxing), Suma Siddharth Shirur (Para shooting), and Sujeet Maan (Wrestling) will be given the Dronacharya award. At the same time, Dinesh Jawahar Lad (Cricket), Bimal Prafulla Ghosh (Football), and Raj Singh will get this award in the lifetime contribution category. Ashwini Akkunji C (Athletics), Dharamvir Singh (Hockey), B C Suresh (Kabaddi) and Nir Bahadur Gurung (Para Athletics) will receive the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Contribution Award.

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List of winners:

​Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022

Achanta Sharath Kamal

Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2022

Seema Punia (Athletics), Eldhose Paul (Athletics), Avinash Mukund Sable (Athletics), Lakshya Sen (Badminton), HS Prannoy (Badminton), Amit (Boxing), Nikhat Zareen (Boxing), Bhakti Pradip Kulkarni (Chess), R Praggnanandhaa (Chess), Deep Grace Ekka (Hockey), Shushila Devi (Judo), Sakshi Kumari (Kabaddi), Nayan Moni Saikia (Lawn Bowl), Sagar Kailas Ovhalkar (Mallakhamb), Elavenil Valarivan (Shooting), Omprakash Mitharval (Shooting), Sreeja Akula (Table Tennis), Vikas Thakur (Weightlifting), Anshu (Wrestling), Sarita (Wrestling), Parveen (Wushu), Manasi Girishchandra Joshi (Para Badminton), Tarun Dhillon (Para Badminton), Swapnil Sanjay Patil (Para Swimming), Jerlin Anika J (Deaf Badminton)

​Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games 2022 Regular Category

Jiwanjot Singh Teja (Archery), Mohammad Ali Qamar (Boxing), Suma Siddharth Shirur (Para Shooting), Sujeet Maan (Wrestling)

Lifetime Category

Dinesh Jawahar Lad (Cricket), Bimal Prafulla Ghosh (Football), Raj Singh (Wrestling)

Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games 2022

 Ashwini Akkunji C (Athletics), Dharamvir Singh (Hockey), B C Suresh (Kabaddi), Nir Bahadur Gurung (Para Athletics)

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2022

TransStadia Enterprises Private Limited, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Ladakh Ski & Snowboard Association

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2022

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar