New Delhi: 11 unprecedented sportsmen have been recommended for Major Chand Khel Khel Ratna who was resisted by Dhyan Khel Ratna by the National Sports Committee led by retired Supreme Court Judges, Justice Mukundakum Sharma, TOI has learned.
This is the first time so many names have been recommended for an edition of the award ceremony.
Last year, the government had respected a total of 74 sportsmen with national sports and adventure awards in various segments.
This recipient includes five in the Khel Ratna category and 27 for Arjuna.
This year, a total of 72 names have been recommended for Khel Ratna, Arjuna (35), Dhyan Chand, Dronacharya (Regular) and Dronacharya (lifetime).
This list does not include the names of athletes, companies and sports promotion boards and the best performance universities recommended for Rashtriya Khel Protection Puraskar (RKPP), Maulana Cup Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Mada) and Tenzing Norgay Award.
Among those who have been recommended for Khel Ratna – India is the highest in India.
Five athletes, who created history by winning each gold in Tokyo Paralympics, has also been nominated for Khel Ratna.
These include Pramod Bhagat (para-badminton), the Antil Sumit (para-javelin), Avani Lekhara (para-shooting), Krishna Nagar (para-badminton) and Manish Narwal (para-shooting).
Khel Ratna: Neeraj Chopra (Athletics), Ravi Dahiya (Wrestling), PR Sreejesh (Hockey), Lovlina Borghain (Boxing), Sunil Chhetri (Football), Mithali Raj (Cricket), Pramod Bhagat (parabadminton), Antil Sumit (parabadminton) , Sumit Javelin), Avani Lekhara (para-shooting), Krishna Nagar (para-badminton) and Manish Narwal (para-shooting).
Arjuna Award: Arpinder Singh (Triple Jump), Simranjit Kaur (Boxing), Shikhar Dhawan (Cricket), Bhavani Devi (Pagar), Monika (Hockey), Vandana Katariya (Hockey), Sandeep Narwal (Kabaddi), HiMani Uttam Puriab (Mallakhamb )), Abhishek Verma (Shooting), Ankita Raina (Tennis), Deepep Punia (Wrestling), Dilpreet Singh (HOKI), HarmanPreet Singh (HOKI), Rupinder Pal Singh (HOKI), Surendra Kumar (HOKI), Amit Rohidas (Hockey ), Birendra Lakra (HOKI), Sumit (Hoki), Nilakanta Sharma (HOKI), Hardik Singh (HOKI), Vivek Sagar Prasad (HOKI), Gurjant Singh (HOKI), Mandeep Singh (HOKI), Shamsher Singh (Hockey), LALLAL KUMAR UPADHYAY (HOKI), Varun Kumar (HOKI), Simranjeet Singh (HOKI), Yogesh Kathuniya (para-athletics), Nishad Kumar (para-athletics), Praveen Kumar (para-athletics), Suhash Yathiraj (para-badminton) , Singhraj Adhana (parazorioting), Bhavina Patel (pasteable tennis), Harding Singh (para-Archery) and Sharad Kumar (para-athletics).
Dhyanchand Award: OP Jaisha (Athletics), Divya Singh (Basketball), KC Lekha (Boxing), Abhijeet Kunte (Chess), Davinder Singh Garcha (Hockey), Vikas Kumar (Kabaddi), Nir Bahadur Gurung (Athletics PAC), PS Abdul Rassak (Volleyball) and Sajjan Singh (Wrestling) Dronacharya (Regular): Jai Prakash Nutiyal (Para-Shooting), Mahaveer Prasad Saini (Para-Athletics), Pritam Siwach (Hockey), Radhakrishnan Nair (Athletics), Sandeep Sangwan (Hockey) ), Sandhya Gurung (Boxing), Sujeet Maan (Wrestling) and Raman Subramanian (Table Tennis).
Dronacharya (Lifetime): Ashan Kuamr (Kabaddi), Bhaskar Chandra Bhatt (Hockey), CR Kumar (Hockey), Jagrup Rathi (Wrestling), Saruridharan (Badminton), Sarkar Talwar (Cricket), Sarpal Singh (Hockey), Tapan Kumar Panigrahi (swimming) and TP ofeeph (Athletics).