Satwik-Chirag wins Khel Ratna; Shami, Sheetal Devi to receive Arjuna at National Sports Award 2023

A total of 26 players won the Arjuna Award.

India’s men’s doubles badminton duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty are set to be hounoured with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, confirmed the Sports Ministry on Wednesday, December 20th. They were the only Indians to be nominated this year apart from the multiple Arjuna Awardees nomination in National Sports Award 2023.

They had a breakthrough year this season winning the prestigious Badminton Asian Championships and later Asian Games 2023. Apart from this, they became the first doubles pair to clinch BWF World Tour 1000 title at the Indonesian Open. With several achievements to their kitty, the Sports Ministry awarded the duo with country’s highest sporting honour.

Meanwhile, 26 players from various sporting disciplines were recognized with Arjuna Award. Aditi Gopichand Swami who had a stellar year winning multiple medals in major events is among the long list of Arjuna Awardees. Apart from her, Ojas Pravin Deotale from archery also makes it to the final list.

Three para athletes including Sheetal Devi, Ajay Kumar Reddy and Prachi Yadav among the few are scheduled to receive the award from President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 9th, 2024.

Apart from the players, five coaches have been cleared for Dhronacharya award in regular category and three in life time category. The National Sports Awards are conferred every year to recognize and reward athletes for their performance.

National Sports Awards 2023

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

• Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Badminton)

Arjuna Award

• Ojas Pravin Deotale (Archery)
• Aditi Gopichand Swami (Archery)
• Murali Sreeshankar (Athletics)
• Parul Chaudhary (Athletics)
• Mohameed Hussamuddin (Boxing)
• R. Vaishali (Chess)
• Mohammed Shami (Cricket)
• Anush Agarwalla (Equestrian)
• Divyakriti Singh (Equestrian)
• Diksha Dagar (Golf)
• Krishan Bahadur Pathak (Hockey)
• Sushila Chanu (Hockey)
• Pawan Kumar (Kabaddi)
• Ritu Negi (Kabaddi)
• Nasreen (Kho-Kho)
• Pinki (Lawn bowls)
• Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (Shooting)
• Esha Singh (Shooting)
• Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (Squash)
• Ayhika Mukherjee (Table Tennis)
• Sunil Kumar (Wrestling)
• Antim Panghal (Wrestling)
• Naorem Roshibina Devi (Wushu)
• Sheetal Devi (Para Archery)
• Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (Blind Cricket)
• Prachi Yadav (Para Canoeing)

Dronacharya Award (Regular Category)

• Lalit Kumar (Wrestling)
• RB Ramesh (Chess)
• Mahaveer Prasad Saini (Para Athletics)
• Shivendra Singh (Hockey)
• Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar (Mallakhamb).

Dronacharya Award (Life-Time category)

• Jaskirat Singh Grewal (Golf)
• E. Bhaskaran (Kabaddi)
• Jayanta Kumar Pushilal (Table Tennis)

Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement

• Manjusha Kanwar (Badminton)
• Vineet Kumar Sharma (Hockey)
• Kavitha Selvaraj (Kabaddi).

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023:

• Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar (overall winner university)
• Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runner -up)
• Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runner-up)

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