Arjuna for Neeraj Chopra, Hima Das; Dronacharya for Mysuru-based C.A. Kuttappa

New Delhi:  The National Sports Awards 2018 were officially announced yesterday. The full list of Awardees was released by Press Information Bureau (PIB) on their official website.

As expected, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu will receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award – India’s highest sports honour. Kohli will become the third Indian cricketer after legendary Sachin Tendulkar (1997) and the talismanic former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2007) once the Sports Ministry officially accepts the committee’s recommendation.

Chanu is the current Commonwealth Games gold-medallist and India’s biggest medal hope in weightlifting going into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. For Chanu, the award comes as a massive morale-booster as she is currently recovering from a lower back injury, which forced her to skip Asian Games in Jakarta.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2018: Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting);  Kohli (Cricket).

Arjuna Awards 2018: CWG and Asiad gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, Asiad double medallist sprinter Hima Das and Indian batswoman Smriti Mandhana among others.

Neeraj Chopra (Athletics); Naib Subedar Jinson Johnson (Athletics); Hima Das (Athletics); Nelakurthi Sikki Reddy (Badminton); Subedar Satish Kumar (Boxing); Smriti Mandhana (Cricket); Shubhankar Sharma (Golf); Manpreet Singh (Hockey); Savita (Hockey); Col. Ravi Rathore (Polo);  Rahi Sarnobat (Shooting); Ankur Mittal (Shooting); Shreyasi Singh (Shooting); Manika Batra (Table Tennis); G. Sathiyan (Table Tennis); Rohan Bopanna (Tennis); Sumit (Wrestling); Pooja Kadian (Wushu); Ankur Dhama (Para-Athletics); Manoj Sarkar (Para-Badminton).

Dronacharya Award 2018

The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is presented to coaches and mentors. It is the highest coaching honour of the Republic of India. This year 8 coaches have been awarded the honour. This list stoked a controversy after national compound archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja’s name was dropped after it came to light that he had served a one-year ban following an incident of indiscipline during 2015 World University Games  in Korea.

Subedar Chenanda Achaiah Kuttappa (Boxing) from Mysuru; Vijay Sharma (Weightlifting); A. Srinivasa Rao (Table Tennis); Sukhdev Singh Pannu (Athletics); Clarence Lobo (Hockey – Life Time); Tarak Sinha (Cricket – Life Time); Jiwan Kumar Sharma (Judo – Life Time); V.R. Beedu (Athletics – Life Time).

Dhyan Chand Award 2018

The Dhyan Chand Award, officially known as Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games is given for a lifetime of sporting achievement. Satyadev Prasad (Archery); Bharat Kumar Chetri (Hockey); Bobby Aloysius (Athletics); Chougale Dadu Dattatray (Wrestling).

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar for 2018 were given to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited for Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent, JSW Sports for Encouragement to Sports through Corporate Social Responsibility category and Isha Outreach in Sports for Development category.

The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2017-18 was given to Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.