Champs receive national honours virtually from different SAI centres

This year, a whopping 74 were picked for the national honours. Of these, 60 attended the virtual ceremony conducted across 11 Sports Authority of India (SAI) centres in various cities. Cricketers Rohit Sharma (Khel Ratna) and Ishant Sharma (Arjuna) missed the ceremony due to their IPL commitments in UAE.

Also, wrestler Vinesh Phogat (Khel Ratna) and badminton player Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (Arjuna) had to pull out of the ceremony after testing positive for the coronavirus. The other three Khel Ratna winners -- TT player Manika Batra, Paralympic gold medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu and women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal -- attended the ceremony.

While Manika logged in from Pune, Mariyappan and Rani joined from the Bengaluru SAI centre. President Kovind applauded as names of the attending awardees were called out and their achievements were cited. Missing, however, was the grandeur of the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Durbar Hall.

“This is the first awards ceremony in COVID times, during which the President has participated,” Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said at the beginning of the ceremony. The athletes received enhanced cash awards this year. The prize money for the Khel Ratna was increased to Rs 25 lakh from the previous amount of Rs 7.5 lakh this morning.

Arjuna awardees, 22 of who attended the ceremony, were given Rs 15 lakh, which is Rs 10 lakh more than the previous sum. The Dronacharya (Lifetime) awardees, who were earlier given Rs 5 lakh, were awarded Rs 15 lakh, while the regular Dronacharya came with Rs 10 lakh instead of Rs 5 lakh. Dhyan Chand awardees were given Rs 10 lakh instead of Rs 5 lakh.

For the first time in the 44-year history of the awards, the winners, guests and dignitaries did not gather at the Durbar Hall. In a tragic turn of events on Friday, a Dronacharya (Lifetime) winner, athletics coach Purushottam Rai, died in Bengaluru. Golfer Aditi Ashok (Arjuna) and former footballer Sukhwinder Singh Sandhu (Dhyan Chand) did not attend the function as they are out of the country.

RAJIV GANDHI KHEL RATNA: Rohit Sharma (Cricket), Mariyappan Thangavelu (Para Athletics), Manika Batra (Table Tennis), Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling) and Rani Rampal (Hockey).

ARJUNA: Atanu Das (Archery), Dutee Chand (Athletics), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (Badminton), Chirag 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 Patkar (Table Tennis), Divij Sharan (Tennis), Shiva Keshavan (Winter Sports), Divya Kakran (Wrestling), Rahul Aware (Wrestling), Suyash Narayan Jadhav (Para Swimming), Sandeep (Para Athletics) and Manish Narwal (Para Shooting).

DRONACHARYA (LIFE-TIME CATEGORY): Dharmendra Tiwary (Archery), Late Purushotham Rai (Athletics), Shiv Singh (Boxing), Romesh Pathania (Hockey), Krishan Kumar Hooda (Kabaddi), Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar (Para Powerlifting), Naresh Kumar (Tennis) and Om Parkash Dahiya (Wrestling).

DRONACHARYA (REGULAR CATEGORY): Jude Felix (Hockey), Yogesh Malviya (Mallakhamb), Jaspal Rana (Shooting), Kuldeep Kumar Handoo (Wushu) and Gaurav Khanna (Para Badminton).

DHYAN CHAND: Kuldip Singh Bhullar (Athletics), Jincy Philips (Athletics), Pradeep Shrikrishna Gandhe (Badminton), Trupti Murgunde (Badminton), N Usha (Boxing), Lakha Singh (Boxing), Sukhwinder 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) and Netarpal Hooda (Wrestling).