As the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza comes to an end, the government of India announced the National Sports Awards 2016.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has released a list of sportspersons and coaches who will be awarded for their spectacular contribution in the field of sports.
The awardees will receive the honours from the President of India at a specially organised function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29, 2016.
Here is the full list:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
It is considered to be the highest sporting award in the country. The awardees receive a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh each. It is the for the first time ever that the government will confer this award to four athletes.
The winners are:
PV Sindhu – Badminton
Sakshi Malik – Wrestling
While India’s favourite male wrestling stars failed to make any mark in this year’s Games, Sakshi Malik, a young girl from Haryana, won the nation’s hearts with her bronze.
Jitu Rai – Shooting
Although he wasn’t quite lucky at the Games, the ace shooter of Nepalese origin has had a wonderful stint in major tournaments like World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
Dipa Karmakar – Gymnastics
Dronacharya Awards
Here is the list:
Nagapuri Ramesh – Athletics
Sagar Mal Dhayal – Boxing
Raj Kumar Sharma – Cricket
Bishweshwar Nandi – Gymnastics
S. Pradeep Kumar – Swimming (Lifetime)
Mahabir Singh – Wrestling (Lifetime)
Arjuna Awards
Arjuna Award is given for consistently outstanding performance for four years. The awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each.
Here is the list:
Rajat Chauhan – Archery
Lalita Babar – Athletics
Sourav Kothari – Billiards & Snooker
Shiva Thapa – Boxing
Ajinkya Rahane – Cricket
Subrata Paul – Football
Rani – Hockey
Raghunath V.R.- Hockey
Gurpreet Singh – Shooting
Apurvi Chandela – Shooting
Soumyajit Ghosh – Table Tennis
Vinesh – Wrestling
Amit Kumar – Wrestling
Sandeep Singh Mann – Para-Athletics
Virender Singh – Wrestling (Deaf)
Dhyan Chand Award
It is India’s highest award for lifetime contribution to sports development. The awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each.
Satti Geetha – Athletics
Sylvanus Dung Dung – Hockey
Rajendra Pralhad Shelke – Rowing
(With inputs from Press Information Bureau)