National Sports Awards 2024 : Major Honours Announced for Indian Athletes. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the winners of the National Sports Awards 2024 on Thursday. The awards will be given by President Droupadi Murmu on January 17 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Manu Bhaker, D. Gukesh, Harmanpreet Singh and Pravin Kumar, these four athletes will receive the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. In addition to them, a total of 32 athletes will receive the Arjuna Award.
Four Athletes to Receive the Khel Ratna Award:
This year the Khel Ratna Award will be given to the four athletes. Also, 32 athletes, including Marathi athlete Swapnil Kusale, will receive the Arjuna Award.
➡️ @YASMinistry announces #NationalSportsAwards 2024
➡️ President of India to give away Awards on 17th January 2025
➡️ ‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’ is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over the period of… pic.twitter.com/nRY3nsleOY
— PIB India (@PIB_India) January 2, 2025
D. Gukesh – Chess World Champion
D. Gukesh made history by becoming the Chess World Champion on December 12, 2024. Gukesh defeated Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 in the final match. Gukesh became India’s second world chess champion, following Viswanathan Anand.
Manu Bhaker – A Historic Achievement at the Paris Olympics
Indian shooter Manu Bhaker made history at the Paris Olympics by winning two medals in a single competition. She secured bronze in both the individual and mixed doubles categories, bringing India two medals in the event.
Harmanpreet Singh – Captain of the Indian Hockey Team
Under the leadership of captain Harmanpreet Singh, the Indian men’s hockey team won a medal at the Olympics for the second consecutive time. For his remarkable leadership, Harmanpreet Singh will be honoured with the Khel Ratna Award.
Pravin Kumar – Gold in Paralympics
Para high jumper Pravin Kumar won gold in the T64 category at the Paralympics. The T64 category includes athletes with leg amputations or other disabilities. And they use prosthetic limbs to compete.
No Awards to Cricket Players
Surprisingly, no cricket players have been selected for awards this year. In 2024 India win the T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. Still there is no award for any cricket player his year. Cricket fans were expecting some recognition for Indian cricketers. However, no cricket players were named among the awardees this year, leaving fans shocked and disappointed.
National Sports Awards 2024 : Complete List of Players Who Received Awards
| i. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024 | ||
| S. No. | Name of the Sportsperson | Discipline |
| 1 | Shri Gukesh D | Chess |
| 2 | Shri Harmanpreet Singh | Hockey |
| 3 | Shri Praveen Kumar | Para-Athletics |
| 4 | Ms. Manu Bhaker | Shooting |
| ii. Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2024 – Complete list of Arjuna Awardees for 2024 | ||
| S. No. | Name of the Sportsperson | Discipline |
| 1. | Ms. Jyothi Yarraji | Athletics |
| 2. | Ms. Annu Rani | Athletics |
| 3. | Ms. Nitu | Boxing |
| 4. | Ms. Saweety | Boxing |
| 5. | Ms. Vantika Agrawal | Chess |
| 6. | Ms. Salima Tete | Hockey |
| 7. | Shri Abhishek | Hockey |
| 8. | Shri Sanjay | Hockey |
| 9. | Shri Jarmanpreet Singh | Hockey |
| 10. | Shri Sukhjeet Singh | Hockey |
| 11. | Shri Rakesh Kumar | Para-Archery |
| 12. | Ms. Preeti Pal | Para-Athletics |
| 13. | Ms. Jeevanji Deepthi | Para-Athletics |
| 14. | Shri Ajeet Singh | Para-Athletics |
| 15. | Shri Sachin Sarjerao Khilari | Para-Athletics |
| 16. | Shri Dharambir | Para-Athletics |
| 17. | Shri Pranav Soorma | Para-Athletics |
| 18. | Shri H Hokato Sema | Para-Athletics |
| 19. | Ms. Simran | Para-Athletics |
| 20. | Shri Navdeep | Para-Athletics |
| 21. | Shri Nitesh Kumar | Para-Badminton |
| 22. | Ms. Thulasimathi Murugesan | Para-Badminton |
| 23. | Ms. Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan | Para-Badminton |
| 24. | Ms. Manisha Ramadass | Para-Badminton |
| 25. | Shri Kapil Parmar | Para-Judo |
| 26. | Ms. Mona Agarwal | Para-Shooting |
| 27. | Ms. Rubina Francis | Para-Shooting |
| 28. | Shri Swapnil Suresh Kusale | Shooting |
| 29. | Shri Sarabjot Singh | Shooting |
| 30. | Shri Abhay Singh | Squash |
| 31. | Shri Sajan Prakash | Swimming |
| 32. | Shri Aman | Wrestling |
| iii. Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2024 | ||
| S. No. | Name of the Sportsperson | Discipline |
| 1. | Shri Sucha Singh | Athletics |
| 2. | Shri Murlikant Rajaram Petkar | Para-Swimming |
| iv. Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games 2024 | ||
| A. Regular Category: | ||
| S. No. | Name of the Coach | Discipline |
| 1. | Shri Subhash Rana | Para-Shooting |
| 2. | Ms. Deepali Deshpande | Shooting |
| 3. | Shri Sandeep Sangwan | Hockey |
| B. Lifetime Category: | ||
| S. No. | Name of the Coach | Discipline |
| 1. | Shri S Muralidharan | Badminton |
| 2. | Shri Armando Agnelo Colaco | Football |
| v. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar | ||
| S. No. | Name of the Entity | |
| 1. | Physical Education Foundation of India | |
| (vi) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024: | ||
| S. No. | Name of University | |
| 1 | Chandigarh University | Overall winner University |
| 2 | Lovely Professional University, (PB) | 1st runner up University |
| 3 | Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar | 2nd runner up University |
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