Applications Invited for National Sports Awards, Deadline Set for November 14

The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has announced that applications for the prestigious National Sports Awards will be invited till November 14. The awards being bestowed upon sportspersons include the Arjuna Award, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, Dronacharya Award, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy, Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.

The top sportspersons last year, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, were awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for their outstanding performance in Badminton. The duo has secured three BWF titles in 2023 and won India's historic first-ever badminton gold at the Asian Games.

Other notable award winners include Mohammed Shami (cricket), Ajay Reddy (blind cricket), Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Sheetal Devi (para archery), and Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis) among others.

The Dronacharya Award winners last year include Ganesh Prabhakaran (mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (para athletics), Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), and Shivendra Singh (hockey).

The National Sports Awards aim to recognize and reward excellence in sports. The awards being conferred this year are the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for outstanding performance, Arjuna Award for Outstanding Performance, Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches, Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award for lifetime achievement, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy for the top-performing university.