New Delhi: The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports yesterday announced the names of the 12 sports-persons who will be awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for the year 2021. A host of medallists from Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will be given India’s highest sporting honour. The list also includes Indian women’s cricket legend Mithali Raj and Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri.

The awards will be given as part of the National Sports Awards, which will be held on Nov. 13. All the sports-persons will receive their awards from the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan. A total of 35 sports-persons will receive Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in sports.

The awardees

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: Neeraj Chopra (Athletics), Ravi Kumar (Wrestling), Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing), P.R. Sreejesh (Hockey), Avani Lekhara (Para Shooting), Sumit Antil (Para Athletics), Pramod Bhagat (Para Badminton), Krishna Nagar (Para Badminton), Manish Narwal (Para Shooting), Mithali Raj (Cricket), Sunil Chhetri (Football) & Manpreet Singh (Hockey).

Arjuna Awards: Arpinder Singh (Athletics), Simranjit Kaur (Boxing), Shikhar Dhawan (Cricket), C.A. Bhavani Devi (Fencing), Monika (Hockey), Vandana Katariya (Hockey), Sandeep Narwal (Kabaddi), Himani Uttam Parab (Mallakhamb), Abhishek Verma (Shooting), Ankita Raina (Tennis), Deepak Punia (Wrestling), Dilpreet Singh, Harman Preet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Birendra Lakra, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Shamsher Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Varun Kumar & Simranjeet Singh (all Hockey), Yogesh Kathuniya (Para Athletics), Nishad Kumar (Para Athletics), Praveen Kumar (Para Athletics), Suhash Yathiraj (Para Badminton) Singhraj Adhana (Para Shooting), Bhavina Patel (Para Table Tennis),                                   Harvinder Singh (Para Archery) and Sharad Kumar (Para Athletics).