Dipa Karmakar nominated for Khel Ratna

The Dronacharya award committee nominated Bisweswar Nandi (gymnastics), N. Ramesh (athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (boxing) Raj Kumar Sharma (cricket), Pradeep Kumar (swimming) and Mahaveer Phogat (wrestling) for the 2016 award.

Karmakar's coach Bisweswar Nandi has also been rewarded for his decade-long dedication after being nominated for the Dronacharya Award 2016.

Dipa Karmakar has been nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, her coach Bisweswar Nandi has also been rewarded for his decade-long dedication after being nominated for the 2016 Dronacharya Award.

The Dronacharya award committee that met here on Friday recommended Nandi’s name for the award given to coaches for their contribution to their respective sports. Besides Nandi, athletics coach N. Ramesh has also been nominated. Others include boxing coach Sagar Mal Dhayal and Virat Kohli’s coach Raj Kumar Sharma. Pradeep Kumar in swimming and Mahaveer Phogat, the man credited with making women’s wrestling mainstream starting with his own family, have also been nominated.

Three names have also been nominated for lifetime contributions to their sports as sportspersons for the Dhyan Chand Award. Sylvanus Dung Dung, Indian hockey’s rock-solid defender in the 80s, has been chosen for the award along with athlete Satti Geetha and Rajendra Pralhad Shelke in rowing. The Dhyan Chand Award is generally given to talented sportspersons who missed out on Arjuna Award during their playing days.