Neeraj Chopra, who bagged gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, was among the 12 athletes who were recommended for Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award - India's highest sporting honour.
Olympic bronze-winning Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh was added to the list of Khel Ratna awardees on November 2, taking the total number of this year's winners to 12. The ceremony is scheduled for November 13 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Manpreet was originally recommended for the Arjuna award but he joined veteran goalkeeper P R Sreejesh as the second hockey player in the list of awardees for the highest sporting honour.
Boxer Lovlina Borgohain, who won a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics and woman cricket Test skipper Mithali Raj were also recommended for the Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna by the selection committee.
Sunil Chhetri also became the country's first footballer to be selected for the honour. Last year, five athletes were picked for the award while four were selected after the 2016 Rio Games.
The announcement of the national sports awards was delayed in order to consider the performance of the para-athletes in the Tokyo Paralympics (August 24 to September 5).
Shooter Avani Lekhara and Manish Narwal, javelin thrower Sumit Antil and shuttlers Pramod Bhagat and Krishna Nagar, who all have won a gold each in the Tokyo Paralympics, completed the list of those recommended for the Khel Ratna.
(With inputs from agencies)
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