File photo of Harmanpreet Singh.© Instagram

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

Lakshya Sen revealed how his phone was taken away by strict coach Prakash Padukone, hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh talked about his team’s thrilling run while everyone shared a good laugh on the air conditioning struggles in Paris when Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a reception for the Indian contingent after its fairly decent Olympic campaign. The Prime Minister hosted the contingent after the Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort, where too the athletes were in attendance on Thursday. The video of the interaction was shared by Modi and the athletes could be seen having one-on-one chats with the PM.

In one such conversation with Lakshya, who finished fourth in the men’s singles badminton competition, Modi said: “When I met Lakshya for the first time, he was very small but now he has grown up. Do you know, this time you have become a celebrity? To this, Lakshya replied: “Yes sir. But during matches Prakash Sir took my phone and told me till the matches are over, you won’t get your phone. But after that I got to know the support I got.

“It was a learning experience and little heart-breaking as well because I came so close,” said the 22-year-old who lost from a position of strength in the bronze playoff.

A laughing Modi instantly said: “Prakash Sir was so disciplined and strict, I will send him the next time as well.” The Paris Olympics were promoted as eco-friendly Games. So, there were no air conditioners in any rooms in the Games village, forcing the sports ministry to dispatch 40 portable ACs on an urgent basis for their comfortable stay.

A laughing Modi asked all the athletes who all cursed him for the situation, to which no one replied.

“There were no ACs and it was hot as well, so I want to know which of you cried first saying ‘Modi speaks big but there are no ACs in rooms so what should we do’,” Modi said.

“Who all are there who faced most difficulties? But when I learnt that, within a few hours that work also was done. See how we try to provide you the best of facilities?” the Prime Minister added.

Paris didn’t gave ACs to olympic players. You must have thought what Modi has done but as soon as I came to know, ACs were arranged for each and every player within hours pic.twitter.com/ILPGnGLTVT

— (@kanchandwivedi3) August 16, 2024

Modi also had a light-hearted chat with Harmanpreet, who opened up on how the team fought back after being down to 10 men for more than 40 minutes in the quarterfinal against Great Britain.

“Just tell me when you to fight with 10-men against Britain, you must have been demoralised from the start, Sarpanch saab, please tell, it was very difficult,” Modi asked the India captain, addressing him with his nickname.

Harmanpreet replied: “Yes Sir, it was very difficult because we got the red card in the first quarter but our coaching staff helped us a lot. We visualised every situation because in Olympics anything can happen. The motivation of the team also increased because we have a rivalry with GB (Britain).” Modi interrupted and laughingly said: “It has been going on for the last 150 years.” Harmanpreet said: “We fought and ended the match 1-1 and won it in shoot-out. It never ever happened in Olympics history (playing with 10 men for 42 minutes and then winning).”

Paris Olympics launch-pad for Indian sports’ rise

Modi believes the just-concluded Paris Olympics is going to be a turning point for India. The 117-member Indian contingent returned with six medals, including one silver and five bronze. The count was one less than Tokyo and there was no gold in the tally this time.

But Modi appreciated the efforts of all athletes who represented the country and said their inputs will help in successfully getting the hosting rights of the 2036 Games.

“Those who have returned after losing, please get this out of your mind. You made the country proud and came back after learning something. Sports is one area where no one loses, everybody learns,” Modi said.

“I believe Paris Olympics will be a launch-pad for the rise of Indian sports. This is going to be our turning point. After that there will only be wins. We are not going to stop,” the Prime Minister added.

The Prime Minister termed the athletes as “India’s soldiers of 2036 Olympics”.

“India is preparing to host the 2036 Olympics. In this case many athletes who played in the Olympics, their inputs are very important. You might have observed many things there, from Olympics planning to all facilities, from sports management to event management,” Modi said.

“Your experiences, your observations, we need to write them down, so in 2036 Olympics all the little things and experiences of yours will help us in preparing for the Games. In one way you are soldiers of 2036 Olympics,” he added.

File photo of Harmanpreet Singh.© X (formerly Twitter)