Double Olympic medallist shooter Manu Bhaker and chess world champion D Gukesh are among four athletes selected for the prestigious Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Thursday. Alongside them, men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and Paralympic gold medalist Praveen Kumar will also receive the honour.
The Ministry has also announced 32 athletes, including 17 para-athletes, for the Arjuna Awards.
The announcement follows a controversy over reports claiming that Manu Bhaker was excluded from the list of Khel Ratna nominees.
Her father, Ram Kishan and coach Jaspal Rana expressed their disappointment at the perceived oversight. However, Manu Bhaker later acknowledged that a possible mistake had occurred during the nomination process, which is currently being rectified.
Manu Bhaker, who made history as the first athlete from independent India to win two Olympic medals in a single edition, took home bronze in the 10m air pistol individual and mixed team events at the Tokyo Olympics.
In the same Games, Harmanpreet Singh captained the Indian men’s hockey team to secure their second consecutive bronze medal.
Eighteen-year-old Gukesh became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion and helped the Indian team win a historic gold at the Chess Olympiad last year.
Praveen Kumar, the fourth recipient, claimed victory in the T64 category at the Paris Paralympics, an event for athletes with lower-leg amputations who use prosthetics for running.
As confirmed by the Sports Ministry in a press release, the awardees will receive their honours from the President of India during a special ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17 at 11:00 am.
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