BFI recommends Amit Panghal, Vikas Krishan for Khel Ratna Award

Both boxers have already qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

The Boxing Federation of India has recommended Amit Panghal and Vikas Krishan for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Both are remarkable athletes and have done enough to warrant their recommendation by the federation.

Amit Panghal is yet to win any national sporting award despite being nominated for the Arjuna Award for the past three years. The pugilist has been in a rich vein of form in the past couple of years. He won a silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and then picked up a gold at the 2019 Asian Boxing Championship.

Performances of the athletes in the last four years have been used as a basis for their nomination for one of the highest sporting honours in this country. “The nominations of the athletes and coaches have been on the basis of their performance during the last four years,” said BFI to PTI.

Amit Panghal also ended up as a gold-medallist at the 2018 Asian Games. His excellent performances earned him a nomination for the Arjuna award in 2018. Furthermore, he made history last year when he won the silver medal at the AIBA World Championships 2019 as he became the first Indian male boxer to pass the semi-final hurdle at the Championships.

On the other hand, Vikas Krishan has bagged gold medals at the Asian Games 2010 and Commonwealth Games 2018 respectively. The 24-year-old also possesses a bronze medal at the World Boxing Championship and harbors the ambition of winning an Olympic medal following in the footsteps of childhood hero Vijender Singh. Moreover, he will become the second athlete to represent India at the Olympic Games for the third time in his sport after Olympic bronze-medallist Vijender Singh.

Krishan also won the Arjuna Award back in 2012 and another major sporting honor could prove to be a major boost to his confidence ahead of the Olympics next year. Lovlina Borgohain, Simranjit Kaur, and Manish Kaushik are the other boxers nominated for the Arjuna Award this year by the Boxing federation.

Neeraj Chopra is the only track and field athlete to be recommended by the Athletics Federation of India for the esteemed sports award. Javelin thrower Annu Rani and discus thrower Seema Antil Punia are other athletes to have been recommended for the Arjuna Award by the federation.

The Wrestling Federation of India has recommended Vinesh Phogat for the Khel Ratna award. The 25-year-old has won the gold and a bronze medal each in the Asian Games. Furthermore, she won the Arjuna award in 2016 and is currently the only woman grappler from the country to have qualified for the upcoming Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, Mirabai Chanu, a former recipient of the Khel Ratna, has now been advocated to claim the Arjuna Award by the Indian Weightlifting Federation. Besides Mirabai Chanu, Punam Yadav and Ragala Venkat Rahul are the two other weightlifters to have been tipped by the federation for the Arjuna Award.