Manu Bhaker, D Gukesh, Harmanpreet Singh, Praveen Kumar to receive Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awards – Complete list

Manu Bhaker, D Gukesh, Harmanpreet Singh, Praveen Kumar have been nominated to receive Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) confirmed on Thursday. While Bhaker is a double medallist at the Paris Olympics, Gukesh became the youngest world chess champion at 18 last month. Harmanpreet Singh led Indian men’s hockey team to their second-consecutive bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024, while Praveen grabbed men’s high jump gold at the Paralympics with a record-breaking jump of 2.08 meters.

The sports ministry also named 32 athletes, including 17 para-athletes, for Arjuna Awards. All the awardees will be receiving their respective awards from the President of India at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17 (Friday) at 11 AM.

With two bronze medals (10m air pistol, & 10m air pistol mixed team), the 22-year-old Bhaker became the first Indian to win two medals at a single Olympics post-independence. She also became the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal.

Her mixed team partner Sarabjot Singh is among the nominated for Arjuna awards. The announcement comes in after TOI reported that Bhaker isn’t among the nominated for Khel Ratna. While sports ministry said that they didn’t receive Bhaker’s application, the shooter’s family responded that an application was indeed made.

In the same Paris Olympics, Hamranpreet led the Indian hockey team to its second consecutive bronze medal. Having won a bronze medal in Tokyo three years back, the Men in Blue fought like a warrior as they defeated Spain to grab the third place. It was also a perfect farewell for PR Sreejesh who announced retirement from the game.

For Gukesh, it was a dream that he once dreamt six years back. In a 14-game thrilling contest in Singapore, the Tamil Nadu youngster dethored Chinese Liren for the top honours. In that process, Gukesh became the second Indian and 18th overall world chess champion.

The sports ministry also recognised Sucha Singh (Athletics) and Murlikant Rajaram Petkar (Para-Swimming) for Arjuna Awards (lifetime) for their contributions in the field of sports.

Among the Dronacharya awardees, are Subhash Rana (Para-Shooting), Deepali Deshpande (Shooting), Sandeep Sangwan (Hockey) in regular category and Muralidharan (Badminton) and Armando Agnelo Colaco (Football) in lifetime category.