NEW DELHI: The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has recommended the names of Gaurav Solanki, Sonia and Simranjit Kaur for the Arjuna Award. The federation has however not nominated anyone for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
"We have recommended the names of Gaurav Solanki, Sonia, and Simranjit Kaur for the Arjuna Award. We have not nominated any boxer for the Khel Ratna," sources within BFI told ANI.
Simranjit (60kg) had won a bronze medal at the 2018 World Championships and is among the four Indian women boxers who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had earlier decided to extend the last date of submission of application for the upcoming National Sports Awards 2021. Earlier, the last date for submitting applications was June 21. The nominations/applications from the eligible sportspersons/ coaches/ entities/ universities were invited for the award and they were to be e-mailed as per an official statement from the ministry.
Manika Batra, Rohit Sharma, Vinesh Phogat, Rani Rampal, and Mariyappan Phangavelu were awarded the Khel Ratna Award last year and it was the first time that five athletes received the honour in the same year.