The nominations for the National Sports Awards 2023 have been unveiled, that includes outstanding athletes vying for recognition with the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards. In this notable lineup, the stellar badminton males’s doubles duo, Satwik-Chirag, has secured a nomination for the celebrated Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. Additionally, tempo sensation Mohammed Shami, together with archers Ojas Pravin Deotale and Aditi Gopichand Swami, and wrestler Antim Panghal, discover themselves nominated for the esteemed Arjuna Award.

Satwik-Chirag nominated for Khel Ratna within the National Sports Awards 2023:

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty emerged as the only nominees for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. Their nomination stems from a sequence of outstanding achievements, most notably, being the primary Indian pair to safe the BWF Super 1000 title on the Indonesia Open.

Etching their names in historical past, the duo clinched India’s inaugural gold medal in badminton on the Asian Games in Hangzhou in October. Further contributing to their accolades, the ‘Brothers of Destruction’ triumphed on the Badminton Asia Championships in April. Noteworthy is their achievement of turning into the primary Indian doubles pair to realize the world No. 1 spot within the badminton rankings this October.

Mohammed Shami, Antim Panghal nominated for Arjuna Award

A complete of 17 athletes have obtained nominations for the Arjuna Awards. Among the notable suggestions are cricketer Mohammed Shami, archer Aditi Swami, steeplechaser Parul Chaudhary, shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, and wrestler Antim Panghal.

One standout identify within the checklist is Para archer Sheetal Devi. She achieved the excellence of turning into the primary armless archer to safe a silver medal on the World Para Archery Championships, incomes her qualification for the Paris Paralympics in 2024.

In one other notable inclusion, Vaishali, who just lately attained the standing of the third feminine Grand Master from India, can be among the many nominees. Adding to the popularity, RB Ramesh, the coach of siblings Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali, is being thought-about for the Dhronacharya Award.

National Sports Awards 2023: Players nominated

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (badminton)

Arjuna Award: Mohammed Shami (cricket), Ajay Reddy (blind cricket) Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Parul Chaudhary and M Sreeshankar (athletics), Mohd Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Divyakriti Singh and Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (hockey), Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pinky (garden ball), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (capturing), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Ayhika Mukherjee (desk tennis)

Dronacharya Award: Ganesh Prabhakaran (mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (para athletics), Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Shivendra Singh (hockey)

Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award: Kavita (kabaddi), Manjusha Kanwar (badminton) Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey)