The National Sports Award committee had recommended the players and athletes for the prestigious Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards for this year. Though the recommendations were supposed to be made earlier, the committee had to wait thinking that the athletes who performed well at the Olympics could also be recommended.
The committee had recommended 11 names for the Khel Ratna awards including Tokyo Gold Medalist Neeraj Chopra, Indian women’s cricketer Mithali Raj, ace football player Sunil Chhetri, and others.
Westler Ravi Dahiya, Hockey player PR Sreejesh, Boxer Lovlina Borgohain, Badminton player Pramod Bhagat, Athlete Sumit Antil, Shooters Avani Lekhara, and Manish Narwal, and Badminton player Krishna Nagar were nominated for the Khel Ratna awards, the highest sporting award in the country.
On the other hand, as many as 35 members including Gabbar Shikhar Dhawan, Men’s Hockey players were nominated for the Arjuna award for this year. Hockey players deserve to be honored with the award given their stunning performance at the Tokyo Olympics.
Indian Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra had scripted history by becoming the first field athlete to win an Olympic medal for the country. Making the medal even more special, he claimed the medal in his maiden Olympic tournament. He renders his service in the Indian Army as a Junior Commissioned Officer.
The second one in the Khel Ratna list is Mithali Raj who has been representing India in cricket for more than two decades. Having made her international debut in 1999, Mithali Raj went on to add more and more to her name. She is often regarded as the Sachin Tendulkar of Women’s Cricket for her long and glorious career. She is the highest run-scorer in Women’s cricket and currently leads the team in the 50-over and longest format of the game.
37-year ace football player Sunil Chhetri, the captain of the Indian National Football team was also nominated for the Khel Ratna award for his valuable contributions to the game. It is not wrong to say that people are talking about the game just because of him. Chhetri is now the third-highest international goal scorer with a count of 79 goals. He broke the record set by Brazilian great Pele who has 77 goals.