Devendra Jhajharia and Sardar Singh set to receive Khel Ratna, 17 others recommended for Arjuna Award
Rio Paralympics 2016 Gold medalist, Devendra Jhajharia has made history by becoming the first ever para-athlete to be nominated for the prestigious Khel Ratna award for extraordinary achievements in the field of sports. India hockey captain Sardar Singh has also been nominated for the biggest honour in Indian sports.
The Arjuna Awardees list was also released and includes a host of talented sportspersons who have contributed greatly to the country in their respective fields. Among the names on the list of awardees are Indian cricketers Cheteshwar Pujara and Harmanpreet Kaur who have both been magnificent in the sport recently.
Sardar Singh has been a huge part of Indian hockey for a while now and was instrumental in India winning the bronze medal at the 2015 Hockey World League. He has led India to two successive silver medal wins at the Commonwealth Games and is widely regarded as the best defensive midfielder the country has seen. 2015 also saw him being awarded the illustrious Padma Shri honour for his brilliant performances for the country.
Devendra Jhajharia is a two-time gold medalist at the Paralympics and became the first Indian ever to accomplish the feat, which is a huge step forward for para-sports in the country.
The Arjuna Award nominations saw a host of other talented athletes being recognized for their efforts and will join Pujara and Harmanpreet in this list. A total of 17 athletes made their way on to the nomination list for the honour and the Sports Ministry will take a final call on which of them shall receive the award.
The awardees are:
#1 Saketh Myneni (Tennis)
#2 Mariyappan Thangavelu (Paralympic High Jump)
#3 Khushbir Kaur (Race Walking)
#4 Arokia Rajiv (Athletics - 400m)
#5 Prashanti Singh (Basketball)
#6 SV Sunil (Hockey)
#7 SSP Chawrasia (Golf)
#8 Satyawart Kadian (Wrestling)
#9 Anthony Amalraj (Table Tennis)
#10 PN Prakash (Shooting)
#11 Jasvir Singh (Kabaddi)
#12 Devendro Singh (Boxing)
#13 Oinam Bembem Devi (Football)
#14 Varun Bhati (Paralympic High Jump)
#15 VJ Surekha (Archery)
#16 Cheteshwar Pujara (Cricket)
#17 Harmanpreet Kaur (Cricket)
The Ministry of Sports will most likely be awarding these players with the honour and shall have the right to make the final decision of awardees from the crop of athletes specified.
It is refreshing to see so many new sports represented in the Arjuna Award and Khel Ratna as well and India could not be prouder of these talented athletes for their achievements.