India’s best-performing athletes were on Tuesday conferred with the national sports awards by President Droupadi Murmu in a regal ceremony where cricketer Mohammed Shami walked in to a rapturous applause at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were chosen for the coveted Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award for a breakout 2023, during which they won their maiden Asian Games gold - a first for India in badminton - while also clinching the Asian Championships title and the Indonesia Open Super 1000 title.
The duo is currently playing in Malaysia Open Super 1000 and therefore skipped the function.
The awards ceremony, usually held on August 29 to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, was deferred because of the Hangzhou Asian Games, which ran from September 23 to October 8 last year.
An atmosphere of gaiety pervaded the Rashtrapati Bhawan as 26 athletes and para-athletes were conferred the Arjuna Awards.
Chirag and Satwik, who became world No.1 last year, would be aiming for an Olympic medal in Paris, having all but sealed qualification for the global showpiece, to be held later this year, by virtue of being world No. 2.
Shami, who is currently recovering from an ankle injury, was there to receive the honours. He took 24 wickets in seven World Cup games last year.
“My aim is to keep myself fit as far as possible, as the next two tournaments and series are big. I will focus on fitness,” he told PTI at a sports ministry reception last night.
Athletes posing with the President of India Droupadi Murmu after the Sports and Adventure Awards 2023 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Also receiving a huge round of applause was the newly crowned chess Grandmaster (GM) R. Vaishali, the elder sister of precocious chess talent R. Praggnanandhaa.
Vaishali was honoured for becoming the third woman from the country, after Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika, to turn GM.
Pistol shooting sensation, 19-year-old Esha Singh, was among the notable absentees as she is competing in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta.
On Monday, she qualified for the Paris Olympics after winning the individual and team gold in 10m air pistol events.
Other sporting bigwigs who were chosen for the Arjuna Award this year were wrestler Antim Panghal, a former junior world champion and bronze-winner at the senior event last year, boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin (bronze-winner at last year’s world championships), and para-archer Sheetal Devi.
Devi, who won two gold medals in the Hangzhou Asian Games, is the first international para-archer without upper limbs due to a rare condition called Phocomelia.
Among the notable Dronacharya awardees this year is chess coach RB Ramesh, who has groomed Praggnanandhaa.
While the Khel Ratna comes with a cash prize of Rs. 25 lakh, the Arjuna and Dronacharya awards include a cash prize of Rs. 15 lakh.
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