New Delhi, Jan 9:
President Droupadi Murmu confers the ‘Khel Ratna’ and ‘Arjuna’ awards on January 9, 2023 at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
22-year-old newly-crowned Chess Grandmaster Tamil Nadu’s R Vaishali on Tuesday was honoured with Arjuna Award 2023 in recognition of her outstanding achievements in Chess.
Among the recipients were shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, along with cricketer Mohammed Shami, who received the Arjuna Award.
Chirag and Satwik were honored with the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award for their remarkable achievements in 2023, securing India’s maiden Asian Games gold in badminton, clinching the Asian Championships title, and winning the Indonesia Open Super 1000 title.
The ceremony, usually held on August 29 to commemorate Major Dhyan Chand’s birth anniversary, was postponed due to the Hangzhou Asian Games from September 23 to October 8 last year.
Amid an atmosphere of jubilation, 26 athletes and para-athletes were presented with the Arjuna Awards. Chirag and Satwik, currently ranked world No.1, are eyeing an Olympic medal in Paris, having virtually sealed their qualification.
Noteworthy awardees included chess Grandmaster R. Vaishali, pistol shooting sensation Esha Singh (competing in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers), wrestler Antim Panghal, boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin, and para archer Sheetal Devi.
Dronacharya awardees featured chess coach RB Ramesh, recognized for nurturing talent like Praggnanandhaa. The Khel Ratna comes with a cash prize of ₹25 lakh, while the Arjuna and Dronacharya awards include a cash prize of ₹15 lakh.
The list of recipients of the 2023 awards
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (badminton).
Arjuna Awards: Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Murali Sreeshankar (athletics), Parul Chaudhary (athletics), Mohammad 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 (lawn bowls), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Esha Singh (shooting), Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (squash), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis), Sunil Kumar (wrestling), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Naorem Roshibina Devi (wushu), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (blind cricket), Prachi Yadav (para canoeing).
Dronacharya Award (regular category): Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Mahaveer Prasad Saini (para athletics), Shivendra Singh (hockey), Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar (mallakhamb).
Dronacharya Award (life-time category): Jaskirat Singh Grewal (golf), Bhaskaran E (kabaddi), Jayanta Kumar Pushilal (table 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 (overall winner university); Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runner-up), Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runner-up).
