Sports Minister Anurag Thakur yesterday physically handed over trophies to the winners of National Sports Awards 2020 after the award ceremony was held virtually last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All the winners of the National Sports Awards 2020 had already received their cash awards but were not able to collect their trophies and citation because of the pandemic. On August 29 last year, the Sports Ministry had conferred 74 National Sports Awards, including five Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (now renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna) and 27 Arjuna awards.

Yesterday’s event was also graced by Sports Secretary Sujata Chaturvedi, Youth Affairs Secretary Usha Sharma and other top Ministry and SAI officials.

List of National Sports Awardees for 2020

Khel Ratna Award: Rohit Sharma (Cricket), Mariyappan Thangavelu (Para-Athletics), Manika Batra (Table Tennis), Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling), Rani Rampal (Hockey).

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 Patkar (Table Tennis), Divij Sharan (Tennis), Shiva Keshavan (Winter Sports), Divya Kakran (Wrestling), Rahul Aware (Wrestling), Suyash Narayan Jadhav (Para-Swimming), Sandeep (Para-Athletics), Manish Narwal (Para Shooting).

Dronacharya Award (Life-Time Category): Dharmendra Tiwary (Archery), Purushotham Rai (Athletics), Shiv Singh (Boxing), Romesh Pathania (Hockey), Krishan Kumar Hooda (Kabaddi), Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar (Para Powerlifting), Naresh Kumar (Tennis), Om Parkash Dahiya (Wrestling). Dronacharya (Regular Category): Jude Felix (Hockey), Yogesh Malviya (Mallakhamb), Jaspal Rana (Shooting), Kuldeep Kumar Handoo (Wushu), Gaurav Khanna (Para Badminton).

Dhyan Chand Award: Kuldip Singh Bhullar (Athletics), Jincy Philips (Athletics), Pradeep Shrikrishna Gandhe (Badminton), Trupti Murgunde (Badminton), N. Usha (Boxing), Lakha Singh (Boxing), Sukhvinder Singh Sandhu (Football), Ajit Singh (Hockey), Manpreet Singh (Kabaddi), J. Ranjith Kumar (Para-Athletics), Satyaprakash Tiwari (Para Badminton), Manjeet Singh (Rowing), Late Sachin Nag (Swimming), Nandan Bal (Tennis), Netarpal Hooda (Wrestling).

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards: Anita Devi (Land Adventure), Col. Sarfraz Singh (Land Adventure), Taka Tamut (Land Adventure), Keval Hiren Kakka (Land Adventure), Satendra Singh (Water Adventure), Gajanand Yadava (Air Adventure) and Late Magan Bissa (Life Time Achievement).

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy: Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar: Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent – Lakshya Institute, Army Sports Institute; Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility – Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd.