The Sports Ministry on Wednesday put its stamp on the nominations for the annual sports activities awards, confirming the distinguished Khel Ratna honour for badminton gamers Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and the Arjuna award for 26 sports activities individuals, together with pacer Mohammed Shami.
The awards might be conferred on the athletes by President Droupadi Murmu on the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 9. Chirag and Satwik are Asian Games gold medallists, World Championships bronze winners and Commonwealth Games silver medallists.

On the opposite hand, Shami, 33, had a spectacular run within the ODI World Cup, the place India completed second-best, dropping to Australia within the ultimate.

Shami was the main wicket-taker within the World Cup, with 24 wickets to his identify in seven outings.

The athletes chosen for this yr’s Arjuna award embrace hockey gamers Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Sushila Chanu, archers Ojas Pravin Deotale and Aditi Gopichand Swami, boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin, chess participant R Vaishali, golfer Diksha Dagar, shooters Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Esha Singh, wrestlers Antim Panghal and Sunil Kumar, paddler Ayhika Mukherjee and para archer Sheetal Devi, amongst others.

The athletes have been nominated for the awards by a authorities panel on December 13.

The ministry additionally cleared 5 coaches for Dronacharya award within the common class and three in life-time class.

The Dyan Chand award within the life-time class might be conferred to a few individuals.

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar is the recipient of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023, whereas Lovely Professional University, Punjab and Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra are the primary and second runner-ups. National Sports Awards are given yearly to recognise and reward excellence in sports activities.

List of National Sports Award winners: Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for 2023: Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (badminton).

Arjuna Awards for 2023: Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Murali Sreeshankar (athletics), Parul Chaudhary (athletics), Mohameed Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Mohammed Shami (cricket), Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Divyakriti Singh (equestrian dressage), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (hockey), Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pawan Kumar (kabaddi), Ritu Negi (kabaddi), Nasreen (kho-kho), Pinki (garden bowls), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (capturing), Esha Singh (capturing), Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (squash), Ayhika Mukherjee (desk tennis), Sunil Kumar (wrestling), Antim (wrestling), Naorem Roshibina Devi (wushu), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (blind cricket), Prachi Yadav (para canoeing).

Dronacharya Award (common class) for excellent coaches:Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Mahaveer Prasad Saini (para athletics), Shivendra Singh (hockey), Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar (mallakhamb).

Dronacharya Award (life-time class) for excellent coaches: Jaskirat Singh Grewal (golf), Bhaskaran E (kabaddi), Jayanta Kumar Pushilal (desk tennis).

Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement: Manjusha Kanwar (badminton), Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey), Kavitha Selvaraj (kabaddi).

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023:Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (general winner college); Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runner -up), Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runner-up).