NEW DELHI: The final list of award winners was released by the sports ministry on Friday with the only notable exception from the initial list of recommendations seeing weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik being excluded from the list of Arjuna awardees.
The final list still saw an unprecedented five Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna recipients and a mammoth 27 winners of the Arjuna Award. The duo was excluded from the Arjuna list after the Sports Minister’s intervention because they had already won the Khel Ratna previously — Sakshi in 2016 and Mirabai in 2018.
The 12-member selection committee picked five Khel Ratna winners — India vice-captain Rohit Sharma, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, Paralympic gold-winner Mariyappan Thangavelu, paddler Manika Batra, and women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal, who was included later.
However, eyebrows were raised over the inclusion of Manika’s name. Experts felt since it was based on her Commonwealth Games and Asiad medals in 2018, she was already rewarded for with Arjuna for her CWG gold.
Experts also pointed out that after her 2018 showings, her performances have been inconsistent which can be traced from the fact that her world ranking has dipped below 60.
Vinesh, meanwhile, is encouraged to win a medal in Tokyo next year. “The award seems like a second lease of life. It has bestowed added responsibility and I hope to carry on and win a medal for the country in the upcoming Olympics,” Vinesh said.
Hockey ace Rani is grateful to her teammates and coaches. “The Khel Ratna Award is one of the most prestigious awards that a sportsperson can receive, and I owe this to my coaches, teammates, friends and family for their constant support since the very beginning,” Rani said.
The Arjuna list saw quite a few deserving sportspersons finally get their due like Winter Olympic Games legend Shiva Keshavan, recurve archer Atanu Das, sprint queen Dutee Chand, boxers Manish Kaushik, Lovlina Borgohain and grapplers Divya Kakran and Rahul Aware.
Arjuna Award
Atanu Das (Archery), Dutee Chand (Athletics), Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (Badminton), Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty (Badminton), Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Basketball), Manish Kaushik (Boxing), Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing), Ishant Sharma (Cricket), Deepti Sharma (Cricket), Sawant Ajay Anant (Equestrian), Sandesh Jhingan (Football), Aditi Ashok (Golf), Akashdeep Singh (Hockey), Deepika (Hockey), Deepak (Kabaddi), Kale Sarika Sudhakar (Kho Kho), Dattu Baban Bhokanal (Rowing), Manu Bhaker (Shooting), Saurabh Chaudhary (Shooting), Madhurika Suhas Patkar (Table Tennis), Divij Sharan (Tennis), Shiva Keshavan (Luge).