National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four year, Arjuna Award is given for consistency outstanding performance for four years, Dronacharya Award for coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events, Dhyan Chand Award for life time contribution to sports development and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar  is given to the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development. Overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments is given Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.

A large number of nominations were received for these awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committees consisting of former Olympian, Arjuna Awardees, Dronacharya Awardees, Dhyan Chand Awardees, Sport Journalists/ Experts/ Commentators and sports administrators. Selection Committee for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Awards was headed by Justice (Ms.) Indermeet Kaur Kochhar (Former Judge of High Court of Delhi High Court). Selection Committee for Dronacharya Awards and Dhyan Chand Awards was headed by Justice Mr. Mukul Mudgal (Former Chief Justice, High Court of Punjab & Haryana High Court).  Selection Committee for Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar was headed by Shri Rahul Bhatnagar, Secretary (Sports). Selection Committee for MAKA Trophy was headed by Shri Ashok Kumar, former Olympian. 

Based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, the Government has decided to confer awards upon the following sportspersons, coaches and entities:

 

(i)         Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2018

 

S. No.	Name of the Sportsperson	Discipline
1.	Ms. S. Mirabai Chanu	Weightlifting
2.	Shri Virat Kohli	Cricket

 

(ii)        Dronacharya Awards 2018

 

S. No.	Name of the Coach	Discipline
	Subedar  Chenanda Achaiah  Kuttappa	Boxing
	Shri Vijay Sharma	Weightlifting
	Shri A. Srinivasa Rao	Table Tennis
	Shri Sukhdev  Singh  Pannu	Athletics
	Shri Clarence Lobo	Hockey (Life Time)
	Shri Tarak Sinha	Cricket (Life Time)
	Shri Jiwan Kumar Sharma	Judo (Life Time)
	Shri V.R. Beedu	Athletics (Life Time)

 

 

(iii)       Arjuna Awards 2018

 

S. No.	Name of the Sportsperson	Discipline
	Shri Neeraj Chopra	Athletics
	Naib Subedar Jinson Johnson	Athletics
	Ms. Hima Das	Athletics
	Ms. Nelakurthi Sikki Reddy	Badminton
	Subedar Satish Kumar	Boxing
	Ms. Smriti Mandhana	Cricket
	Shri Shubhankar Sharma	Golf
	Shri Manpreet Singh	Hockey
	Ms. Savita	Hockey
	Col. Ravi Rathore	Polo
	Ms. Rahi Sarnobat	Shooting
	Shri Ankur Mittal	Shooting
	Ms. Shreyasi Singh	Shooting
	Ms. Manika Batra	Table Tennis
	Shri G. Sathiyan	Table Tennis
	Shri Rohan Bopanna	Tennis
	Shri Sumit	Wrestling
	Ms. Pooja Kadian	Wushu
	Shri Ankur Dhama	Para-Athletics
	Shri Manoj Sarkar	Para-Badminton

 

(iv)      Dhyan Chand Award 2018

 

S. No.	Name of the Sportsperson	Discipline
	Shri Satyadev Prasad	Archery
	Shri Bharat Kumar Chetri	Hockey
	Ms. Bobby Aloysius	Athletics
	Shri Chougale Dadu Dattatray	Wrestling

 

(vi) Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2018

S. No.	Category	Name of the entity
1.	Identification and Nurturing of Budding & Young Talent	Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited
2.	Encouragement to Sports through Corporate Social Responsibility	JSW Sports
3.	Sports for Development	Isha Outreach

 

(vii) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2017-18: 

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 

 

The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 25^th September, 2018.

 

Apart from a medal and a citation, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee will receive a cash prize of Rs. 7.5 lakh. Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh each. A trophy and citation is given to the entity in the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, 2018. Recipients of Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar will be given Trophies and certificates. Overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments will be given MAKA Trophy, award money of Rs. 10 lakh and certificate.

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YB/TK

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