New Delhi: Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday physically handed over trophies to the winners of National Sports Awards 2020 after the award ceremony was held virtually last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

All the winners of the National Sports Awards 2020 had already received their cash awards but were not able to collect their trophies and citation because of the pandemic.

On August 29 last, the Sports Ministry had conferred 74 National Sports Awards, including five Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (now renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna) and 27 Arjuna awards.

The notable awardees who attended Monday’s ceremony at a city hotel here were women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal, star wrestler Vinesh Phogat and 2016 Paralympics gold winner Thangavelu Mariyappan, who were handed the prestigious Khel Ratna.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain, cricketer Ishant Sharma, sprinter Dutee Chand, archer Atanu Das and shuttlers Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty were among others who collected their the Arjuna trophies.

“The National Sports Awards is a prestigious award that is won by athletes after years of dedication and hard work. Congratulations to all the awardees and the very best for their future events. The journey of the awardees doesn’t end here, there is more to be achieved,” Thakur said during the function.

“We must also continue to look for talented athletes, groom them and make them capable of winning medals at the international level. So I request all the athletes to take the pledge of at least grooming and training five such athletes who can win medals for India in the future.”

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