Cricketer Rohit Sharma, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, table tennis player Manika Batra, para-high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu and women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal will be conferred with the country’s highest sporting honour – Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – this year, the government announced. This will be the first time that five sportspersons will be receiving the Khel Ratna on the occasion of the National Sports Day on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand.
Also, for the first time, a total of 27 athletes will be bestowed with the Arjuna award, including cricketers Ishant Sharma and Deepti Sharma, sprinter Dutee Chand, recurve archer Atanu Das, woman boxer Lovlina Borgohain, footballer Sandesh Jhingan, golfer Aditi Ashok, hockey player Akashdeep Singh, shooters Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, badminton doubles pair Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, rower Dattu Bhokanal, tennis player Divij Sharan and wrestlers Divya Kakran and Rahul Aware.
The names of past Khel Ratna awardees, wrestler Sakshi Malik and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, were not considered by sports minister Kiren Rijiju for the Arjuna.
The names of two were not recommended by the 12-member selection committee in the originally approved list of 27 sportspersons. The decision of bestowing the Arjuna on them was left to the discretion of the minister and Rijiju decided against it.
Apart from Khel Ratna and Arjuna, 13 names were confirmed for Dronacharya (eight in lifetime category and five in regular category), 15 for Dhyanchand and eight for Tenzing Norgay national adventure awards 2019.
Panjab University, Chandigarh will be awarded with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) trophy, while five government/private entities will be honoured with the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar.
