Double Olympic medallist shooter Manu Bhaker and chess world champion D Gukesh are among four athletes finalised for Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award by the Sports Ministry on Thursday. Men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and Paralympic gold medal winner Praveen Kumar will also get the prestigious award. The Khel Ratna is the highest sporting honour for sportspersons in India. The sports ministry also named 32 athletes, including 17 para-athletes, for Arjuna awards.
Recently, there was a huge furore after some news reports claimed that Manu’s name was missing from the list of athletes recommended for Khel Ratna. Manu’s father Ram Kishan and coach Jaspal Rana were furious over the snub. However, Manu Bhaker admitted that there might have been a lapse in her part while filing for the nomination.
“With regards to ongoing issue for my nomination for the most prestigious Khel Ratna award-I would like to state that as an athlete my role is to play and perform for my country. Awards and recognition keeps me motivated but are not my goal. I believe there has been a lapse, maybe on my part while filing for the nomination which is being corrected. Irrespective of the award I shall remain motivated to win more medals for my country. It is a request to everyone, please do not speculate on this matter,” Manu Bhaker wrote in a post on X.
The 22-year-old Bhaker became independent India’s first athlete to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics with her bronze-winning show in the 10m air pistol individual and 10m air pistol mixed team events in August.
In the same Games, Harmanpreet led the Indian hockey team to its second consecutive bronze medal.
The 18-year-old Gukesh, on the other hand, became the youngest ever World champion while also helping the Indian team win a historic gold in the Chess Olympiad last year.
The fourth recipient will be para high-jumper Praveen, who was crowned the T64 champion in the Paris Paralympics. The T64 classification is for athletes who have one or both legs missing below the knee and rely on a prosthetic leg for running.
“The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 17th January, 2025 (Friday) at 1100 hours,” the sports ministry said in a press release.
With PTI inputs
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