The Sports Ministry physically handed over trophies to all the winners of last year’s National Sports Awards during a function today at Ashoka Hotel, Delhi. All the winners of the National Sports Awards 2020 had already received the cash awards but were not able to collect their trophies and citation during last year's event when the Sports Awards ceremony was held virtually owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.The event was also graced by the presence of the UnionMinister for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Anurag Thakur along with Secretary Sports Smt. Sujata Chaturvedi, Secretary of Youth Affairs Smt. Usha Sharma and other top ministry and SAI officials.

On 29th August 2020, the Sports Ministry handed over a total of 74 National Sports Awards, including 5 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratnas and 27 Arjuna Awards. Monday's ceremony was attended by many awardees, including Rani Rampal, VineshPhogat and MariyappanThangavelu, who received the prestigious Khel Ratna Award, and LovlinaBorgohain, Ishant Sharma, Atanu Das, Satwik Sairaj Ranki reddy, Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty, among others who received the Arjuna Award.

Addressing the awardees Shri Anurag Thakur said, "the National Sports Awards is a prestigious award that is won by athletes after years of dedication and hard work. Congratulations to all the awardees and the very best for their future events. The journey of the awardees doesn't end here, there is more to be achieved. We must also continue to look for talented athletes, groom them and make them capable of winning medals at the International level. So, I request all the athletes to take the pledge of grooming and training at least five such athletes who can win medals for India in the future."

List of National Sports Awardees for the year 2020 were -

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Rohit Sharma (Cricket), MariyappanThangavelu (Para-Athletics), ManikaBatra (Table Tennis), VineshPhogat (Wrestling), Rani Rampal (Hockey).

Arjuna Award: Atanu Das (Archery), Dutee Chand (Athletics), SatwikSairajRankireddy (Badminton), Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty (Badminton), VisheshBhriguvanshi (Basketball), Manish Kaushik (Boxing), LovlinaBorgohain (Boxing), Ishant Sharma (Cricket), Deepti Sharma (Cricket), Sawant Ajay Anant (Equestrian), SandeshJhingan (Football), Aditi Ashok (Golf), Akashdeep Singh (Hockey), Deepika (Hockey), Deepak (Kabaddi), Kale Sarika Sudhakar (Kho Kho), DattuBabanBhokanal (Rowing), Manu Bhaker (Shooting), Saurabh Chaudhary (Shooting), MadhurikaPatkar (Table Tennis), DivijSharan (Tennis), Shiva Keshavan (Winter Sports), DivyaKakran (Wrestling), Rahul Aware (Wrestling), Suyash Narayan Jadhav (Para-Swimming), Sandeep (Para-Athletics), Manish Narwal (Para Shooting).

Dronacharya Award (Life-Time Category): DharmendraTiwary (Archery), Purushotham Rai (Athletics), Shiv Singh (Boxing), RomeshPathania (Hockey), Krishan Kumar Hooda (Kabaddi), Vijay BhalchandraMunishwar (Para Powerlifting), Naresh Kumar (Tennis), Om Parkash Dahiya (Wrestling).

Dronacharya (Regular Category): Jude Felix (Hockey), YogeshMalviya (Mallakhamb), JaspalRana (Shooting), Kuldeep Kumar Handoo (Wushu), Gaurav Khanna (Para Badminton).

Dhyan Chand Award: Kuldip Singh Bhullar (Athletics), Jincy Philips (Athletics), Pradeep ShrikrishnaGandhe (Badminton), TruptiMurgunde (Badminton), N Usha(Boxing), Lakha Singh (Boxing), Sukhvinder Singh Sandhu (Football), Ajit Singh (Hockey), Manpreet Singh (Kabaddi), J Ranjith Kumar (Para-Athletics), Satyaprakash Tiwari (Para Badminton), Manjeet Singh (Rowing), Late Shri Sachin Nag (Swimming), Nandan Bal (Tennis), NetarpalHooda (Wrestling).

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards: Anita Devi (Land Adventure), Col Sarfraz Singh (Land Adventure), Taka Tamut (Land Adventure), Keval Hiren Kakka (Land Adventure), Satendra Singh (Water Adventure), Gajanand Yadava (Air Adventure), Late MaganBissa (Life Time Achievement).

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy: Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Rashtriya Khel ProtsahanPuruskar:

Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent: Lakshya Institute, Army Sports Institute.

Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd.

Employment of sportspersons and sports welfare measures: Air Force Sports Control Board.

Sports for Development: International Institute of Sports Management (IISM).

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NB/OA