Revision as of 12:06, 6 October 2020

Four Khel Ratna awards were conferred in 2016. Graphic: The Times of India

1961

Arjuna Awards

1. Prithipal Singh (Hockey)

2. Ramanathan Krishnan (Lawn Tennis)

3. Karni Singh (Shooting)

4. Jam. Bajarangi Prasad (Swimming)

5. J.C. Vohra (Table Tennis)

6. A. Palanisamy (Volleyball)

7. A.N. Ghosh (Weightlifting)

8. Udey Chand (Wrestling)

9. Gurbachan Singh Randhawa (Athletics)

10. Nandu M. Natekar (Badminton)

11. Sarbjit Singh (Basketball)

12. L. Buddy D' Souza (Boxing)

13. Manuel Aaron (Chess)

14. Salim Durani (Cricket)

15. Pradip Kumar Banerjee (Football)

16. P. G. Sethi (Golf)

17. Shyam Lal (Gymnastics)

18. N. Lumsden (Hockey)

1962

Arjuna Awards

1. Malwa (Wrestling)

2. L.K. Dass (Weightlifting)

3. Nripjit Singh Bedi (Volleyball)

4. Naresh Kumar (Lawn Tennis)

5. Tulsidas Balaram (Football)

6. Hav. P. Badadur Mal (Boxing)

7. Meena Shah (Badminton)

8. Tarlok Singh (Athletics)

1963

Arjuna Awards

1. Stephie D'Souza (Athletics)

2. Chuni Goswami (Football)

3. Charanjit Singh (Hockey)

4. K.E. Rao (Weightlifting)

5. G. Andalkar (Wrestling)

1964

Arjuna Awards

1. Makhan Singh (Athletics)

2. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (Cricket)

3. Jarnail Singh (Football)

4. Shankar Lakshman (Hockey)

5. Bishamber Singh (Wrestling)

1965

Arjuna Awards

1. Arun Lal Ghosh (Football)

2. Udham Singh (Hockey)

3. E. Britto (Hockey)

4. G. R. Deewan (Table Tennis)

5. B.S. Bhatia (Weightlifting)

6. Kenneth Powell (Athletics)

7. Dinesh Khanna (Badminton)

8. Vijay Manjrekar (Cricket)

1966

Arjuna Awards

1. Jaidip Mukerjea (Lawn Tennis)

2. Rima Datta (Swimming)

3. U. Sundararaj (Table Tennis)

4. Mohan Lal Ghosh (Weightlifting)

5. Bhim Singh (Wrestling)

6. B. S. Barua (Athletics)

7. Ajmer Singh (Athletics)

8. Hawa Singh (Boxing)

9. Chandu Borde (Cricket)

10. Yusuf Khan (Football)

11. Sunita Puri (Hockey)

12. Gurbaksh Singh (Hockey)

13. John Peter (Hockey)

1967

Arjuna Awards

1. Bhim Singh (Athletics)

2. Praveen Kumar (Athletics)

3. Suresh Goel (Badminton)

4. Khushi Ram (Basketball)

5. Ajit Wadekar (Cricket)

6. Peter Thangaraj (Football)

7. Mohinder Lal (Hockey)

8. Harbinder Singh (Hockey)

9. Jagjit Singh (Hockey)

10. Premjit Lall (Lawn Tennis)

11. Arun Shaw (Swimming)

12. F. R. Khodaiji (Table Tennis)

13. S. John Gabriel (Weightlifting)

14. Mukhtiar Singh (Wrestling)

1968

Arjuna Awards

1. Rajyashree Kumari (Shooting)

2. Balbir Singh Kular (Hockey)

3. E.A.S. Prasanna (Cricket)

4. Hav. Dennis Swamy (Boxing)

5. Gurdial Singh (Basketball)

6. Joginder Singh (Athletics)

7. Manjit Walia (Athletics)

1969

Arjuna Awards

1. Mir Khasim Ali (Table Tennis)

2. Chandgi Ram (Indian style wrestling) (Wrestling)

3. Harnek Singh (Athletics)

4. Dipu Ghosh (Badminton)

5. Hav. Hari Dutt (Basketball)

6. Bishan Singh Bedi (Cricket)

7. Inder Singh (Football)

8. Bhuvaneshwari Kumari (Shooting)

9. Baidyanath Nath (Swimming)

1970

Arjuna Awards

1. Ajit Pal Singh (Hockey)

2. G. Jagannath (Table Tennis)

3. Arun Kumar Dass (Weightlifting)

4. Sudesh Kumar (Wrestling)

5. S. J. Contractor (Yachting)

6. Mohinder Singh Gill (Athletics)

7. Damayanti Tambay (Badminton)

8. J. Pitchyya Ball (Badminton)

9. Gulam Abbas Moontasir (Basketball)

10. Dilip Sardesai (Cricket)

11. Syed Naeemuddin (Football)

1971

Arjuna Awards

1. Krishnamurthy Perumal (Hockey)

2. Bhim Singh II (Shooting)

3. Bhanwar Singh (Swimming)

4. K. F. Khodaiji (Table Tennis)

5. S.L. Salwan (Weightlifting)

6. Edward Sequeira (Athletics)

7. Shobha Moorthy (Badminton)

8. Man Mohan Singh (Basketball

9. Muniswamy Venu Boxing)

10. Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan (Cricket)

11. C. P. Singh (Football)

1972

Arjuna Awards

1. Michael Kindo (Hockey)

2. Sir Chinubhai Madhowlal Ranchhodlal, 3rd Baronet (Shooting)

3. Balwant Singh Sagwal (Volleyball)

4. Anil Kumar Mandal (Weightlifting)

5. Prem Nath (Wrestling)

6. Vijay Singh Chauhan (Athletics)

7. Prakash Padukone (Badminton)

8. Km. J. Srinivasan (Badminton)

9. Km. J. Srinivasan Ball (Badminton)

10. Hav. Chandranarayanan (Boxing)

11. B. S. Chandrasekhar (Cricket)

12. Eknath Solkar (Cricket)

1973

Arjuna Awards

1. Sriram Singh (Athletics)

2. A. Kareem Ball (Badminton)

3. Surendra Kumar Kataria (Basketball)

4. Shyam Shroff (Billiards & Snooker)

5. Hav. Mehatab Singh (Boxing)

6. Dafadar Khan M. Khan (Equestrian)

7. Magan Singh Rajvi (Football)

8. Afsar Hussain (Yachting)

9. Jagroop Singh (Wrestling)

10. G.M. Reddy (Volleyball)

11. O. Mascarenhas (Hockey)

12. M. P. Ganesh (Hockey

13. D. (Tingoo) Khatau (Swimming)

14. N. R. Bajaj (Table Tennis)

1974

Arjuna Awards

1. Shivnath Singh (Athletics)

2. T. C. Yohannan (Athletics)

3. Raman Ghosh (Badminton)

4. A.K. Punj (Basketball)

5. Ashok Kumar (Hockey)

6. A. Kaur (Hockey)

7. Vijay Amritraj (Lawn Tennis)

8. A.B. Sarang (Swimming)

9. Manjari Bhargava (Swimming)

10. M.S. Rao (Volleyball)

11. S. Vellaiswamy (Weightlifting)

12. Satpal Singh (Wrestling)

1975

Arjuna Awards

1. L.A. Iqbal (Ball Badminton)

2. Hanuman Singh (Basketball)

3. Sunil Gavaskar (Cricket)

4. Amar Singh (Cycling)

5. Montu Debnath (Gymnastics)

6. B. P. Govinda (Hockey)

7. R. Saini (Hockey)

8. Smita Desai (Swimming)

9. M.S. Rana (Swimming)

10. K.C. Elamma (Volleyball)

11. R. Singh (Volleyball)

12. Dalbir Singh (Weightlifting)

13. V. Anusuya Bai (Athletics)

14. Hari Chand (Athletics)

15. Davinder Ahuja (Badminton)

1976

Arjuna Awards

1. Jimmy George (Volleyball)

2. K. Balamuruganandam (Weightlifting)

3. Geeta Zutshi (Athletics)

4. Bahadur Singh Chouhan (Athletics)

5. Ami Ghia (Badminton)

6. A. Sam Christ Das (Ball Badminton)

7. Shantha Rangaswamy (Cricket)

8. H.S. Sodhi (Equestrian)

9. Shailja (Table Tennis)

1977

Arjuna Awards

1. Satish Kumar (Athletics)

2. Kanwal Thakur Singh (Badminton)

3. B.S. Thapa (Boxing)

4. T. Vijayaragavan (Basketball)

5. Gundappa Vishwanath (Cricket)

6. Harcharan Singh (Hockey)

7. L. L. Fernandes (Hockey)

8. A. Ramana Rao (Volleyball)

9. M.T. Selvan (Weightlifting)

1978

Arjuna Awards

1. Nirupama Mankad (Lawn Tennis)

2. Subrata Dutta (Power Lifting)

3. Randhir Singh (Shooting)

4. Kutty Krishnan (Volleyball)

5. E. Karaunakaran (Weightlifting)

6. Rajinder Singh (Wrestling)

7. S. K. Mongia (Yachting)

8. Suresh Babu (Athletics)

9. Angel Mary Joseph (Athletics)

10. C. C. Machaiah (Boxing)

11. M. Mahapatra (Cycling)

12. Gurdev Singh Gill (Football)

1979

Arjuna Awards

1. Om Prakash (Basketball)

2. B. Singh (Boxing)

3. Kapil Dev (Cricket)

4. Prasun Banerjee (Football)

5. Vasudevan Baskaran (Hockey)

6. R. B. Mundphan (Hockey)

7. Indu Puri (Table Tennis)

8. Suresh Kumar Mishra (Volleyball)

9. R. Gyanasekaran (Athletics)

1980

Arjuna Awards

1. Issac Amaldas (Boxing)

2. Syed Modi (Badminton)

3. Gopal Saini (Athletics)

4. Rohini Khadilkar (Chess)

5. Chetan Chauhan (Cricket)

6. Syed Kirmani (Cricket)

7. Mohammed Habib (Football)

8. Eliza Nelson (Hockey)

9. Mohammed Shahid (Hockey)

10. Ramesh Krishnan (Lawn Tennis)

11. Manjit Dua (Table Tennis)

12. Jagminder Singh (Wrestling)

1981

Arjuna Awards

1. Zarir Karanjia (Yachting)

2. Sabir Ali (Athletics)

3. Krishna Das (Archery)

4. G. Manoharan (Boxing)

5. Dilip Vengsarkar (Cricket)

6. Sudhir Karmakar (Football)

7. Varsha Soni (Hockey)

8. Maj. Praveen Oberoi (Rowing)

9. S. P. Chauhan (Shooting)

10. B.K. Satpathy (Weightlifting)

1982

Arjuna Awards

1. Persis Madan (Swimming)

2. Venugopal Chandrasekhar (Table Tennis)

3. G. E. Sridharan (Volleyball)

4. Tara Singh (Weightlifting)

5. Kartar Singh (Wrestling)

6. Jeeja Unwalla (Yachting)

7. Farokh Tarapore (Yachting)

8. Fali Unwalla (Yachting)

9. M. D. Valsamma (Athletics)

10. Chand Ram (Athletics)

11. Charles Borromeo (Athletics)

12. Madhumita Bisht (Badminton)

13. Partho Ganguli (Badminton)

14. Ajmer Singh (Basketball)

15. Hav. Kaur Singh (Boxing)

16. Mohinder Amarnath (Cricket)

17. Raghubir Singh (Equestrian)

18. Maj. R. Singh Brar (Equestrian)

1983

Arjuna Awards

1. Dibyendu Barua (Chess)

2. Diana Edulji (Cricket)

3. A.R. Arthna (Cycling)

4. Shanti Mullick (Football)

5. Zafar Iqbal (Hockey)

6. Mohinder Lal (Shooting)

7. Anita Sood (Swimming)

8. R. K. Purohit (Volleyball)

9. Vispy K. Daroga (Weightlifting)

10. P. T. Usha (Athletics)

11. Suresh Yadav (Athletics)

12. Subhash Agarwal (Billiards & Snooker)

13. Jas Lal Pradhan (Boxing)

1984

Arjuna Awards

1. Saley Joseph (Volleyball)

2. Khajan Singh (Swimming)

3. Mohammed Amin Naik (Rowing)

4. P. J. Joseph (Power Lifting)

5. Rajbir Kaur (Hockey)

6. G. M. Khan (Equestrian)

7. Ravi Shastri (Cricket)

8. Praveen Thipsay (Chess)

9. D. Rajaraman Ball (Badminton)

10. Shiny Abraham (Athletics)

11. Raj Kumar (Athletics)

1985

Dronacharya Award(s)

O.M. Nambiar Athletics

Om Prakash Bhardwaj Boxing

Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat Wrestling

Arjuna Awards

1. Vishwanathan Anand (Outstanding Indian Sportsman in Chess) (Chess)

2. Shubhangi Kulkarni (Cricket)

3. M. M. Somaya (Hockey)

4. Prem Maya Sonir (Hockey)

5. Anand Amritraj (Lawn Tennis)

6. S. Sharma Gymnastics (Shooting)

7. Kamlesh Mehta (Table Tennis)

8. Mehar Chand Bhaskar (Weightlifting)

9. Mahabir Singh (Wrestling)

10. Adille Sumariwala (Athletics)

11. Asha Agarwal (Athletics)

12. Raghubir Singh Bal (Athletics)

13. Soma Dutta (Shooting)

1986

Dronacharya Award(s)

Raghunandan Vasant Gokhle Chess

Desh Prem Azad Cricket

Arjuna Awards

1. J.M. Carvalho (Hockey)

2. Bhagirath Samai (Shooting)

3. Cyril C. Valloor (Volleyball)

4. Jag Mohan Sapra (Weightlifting)

5. Lt. Dhruv Bhandari (Yachting)

6. Suman Rawat (Athletics)

7. Geet Sethi (Billiards & Snooker)

8. Jai Pal Singh (Boxing)

9. Mohammad Azharuddin (Cricket)

10. Sandhya Agarwal (Cricket)

1987

Dronacharya Award(s)

Guru Hanuman Wrestling

Gurcharan Singh Cricket

Arjuna Awards

1. Seeva Jayaram (Boxing)

2. Bhagyashree Thipsay (Chess)

3. D. V. Prasad (Chess)

4. Maj. J.S. Ahluwalia (Equestrian)

5. Vandana Shanbagh (Athletics)

6. Bagicha Singh (Athletics)

7. Vandana Rao (Athletics)

8. Balwinder Singh (Athletics)

9. Monalisa Baruah Mehta (Table Tennis)

10. G. Devan (Weightlifting)

11. Subhash Verma (Wrestling)

12. C. S. Pradipak (Yachting)

1988

Arjuna Awards

1. M. P. Singh (Hockey)

2. P. K. Yeshodhara (Power Lifting)

3. Wilson Cherian (Swimming)

4. Rajesh Kumar (Wrestling)

5. Ashwini Nachappa (Athletics)

1989

Arjuna Awards

1. Pargat Singh (Hockey)

2. Niyati Shah (Table Tennis)

3. Abdul Basith (Volleyball)

4. Jyotsna Dutta (Weightlifting)

5. Satywan (Wrestling)

6. Mercy Kuttan (Athletics)

7. Shyam Lal Meena (Archery)

8. Gopal Dewang (Boxing)

9. Madan Lal (Cricket)

10. S. Bhattacharjee (Football)

11. Krupali Patel (Gymnastics)

1990

Dronacharya Award(s)

Ramakant Achrekar Cricket

Syed Naeemuddin Football

A. Ramana Rao Volleyball

Arjuna Awards

1. Pushpendra Kumar Garg (Yachting)

2. Ombir Singh (Wrestling)

3. Kunjarani Devi (Weightlifting)

4. R. Chandra (Weightlifting)

5. Dalel Singh Ror (Volleyball)

6. M. S. Walia (Table Tennis)

7. Bula Choudhury (Swimming)

8. Leander Paes (Lawn Tennis)

9. Jagbir Singh (Hockey)

10. Anupama Gokhale (Chess)

11. Deena Ram (Athletics)

1991

Arjuna Awards

1. Limba Ram (Archery)

2. Rajeev Bagga (Badminton)

3. Radhey Shyam (Basketball)

4. S Sharma (Basketball)

5. D.S. Yadav (Boxing)

6. Capt. Adhiraj Singh (Equestrian)

7. Ali Sher (Golf)

8. Naib Subedar Dalvir Singh (Rowing)

9. K. Udaya Kumar (Volleyball)

10. Chhaya Adak (Weightlifting)

1992

Note: The full, proper name of the Khel Ratna awards, introduced in 1992, is the 'Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna' awards

Khel Ratna

Viswanathan Anand, Chess

Arjuna Awards

1. Merwyn Fernandes (Hockey)

2. Sandeep Byala (Judo)

3. E. S. Baskaran (Power Lifting)

4. Pappu Yadav (Wrestling)

5. Bahadur Prasad (Athletics)

6. Sanjeev Kumar Singh (Archery)

7. Rajender Prasad (Boxing)

1993

Khel Ratna

Geet Sethi Billiards

Arjuna Awards

1. Cawas Billimoria (Judo)

2. Mansher Singh (Shooting)

3. Bharati Singh (Weightlifting)

4. Homi Motiwala (Yachting)

5. K. Saramma (Athletics)

6. Mukund Killekar (Boxing)

7. Kiran More (Cricket)

8. Manoj Pingale (Boxing)

9. Manoj Prabhakar (Cricket)

10. Ashok Kumar (Wrestling)

1994

Dronacharya Award(s)

Ilyas Babar Athletics

Arjuna Awards

1. Major R.S. Bhanwala (Rowing)

2. Jaspal Rana (Shooting)

3. Karman Malleswari (Weightlifting)

4. Rosa Kutty (Athletics)

5. Sachin Tendulkar, Cricket. See Sachin Tendulkar 1: A timeline

6. Jude Menezes (Hockey)

1995

Khel Ratna

Cdr. Homi D. Motivala yachting

Lt. Cdr. P. K. Garg yachting

Dronacharya Award(s)

Karan Singh Athletics

M. Shyam Sunder Rao Volleyball

Arjuna Awards

1. Venkatesan Devarajan (Boxing)

2. Anil Kumble (Cricket)

3. Mukesh Kumar (Hockey)

4. Dhanraj Pillay (Hockey)

5. Mahesh Bhupathi (Lawn Tennis)

6. Mir Shakti Singh (Athletics)

7. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (Athletics)

8. Malathi Krishnamurthy Holla (Athletics)

1996

Khel Ratna

Karnam Malleswari

Dronacharya Award(s)

Wilson Jones Billiards & Snooker

Pal Singh Sandhu Weightlifting

Arjuna Awards

1. Lt. Cdr. Kelly Subbanand Rao (Posthumously) (Yachting)

2. Kutraleeshwaran (Swimming)

3. Moraad Ali Khan (Shooting)

4. Surender Singh Waldia (Rowing)

5. Gaurav Natekar Lawn (Tennis)

6. Poonam Chopra (Judo)

7. A. B. Subbaiah (Hockey)

8. Ashish Kumar Ballal (Hockey)

9. Javagal Srinath (Cricket)

10. A. Maria Irudayam (Carrom)

11. Raj Kumar Sangwan (Boxing)

12. Padmini Thomas (Athletics)

13. Ajit Bhaduria (Athletics)

14. Kallegowda (Athletics)

1997

Khel Ratna

Nameirakpam Kunjarani Weightlifting

Leander Paes – Tennis

Dronacharya Award(s)

Joginder Singh Saini Athletics

Arjuna Awards

1. Chetan Baboor (Table Tennis)

2. Paramjit Sharma (Weightlifting)

3. Sanjay Kumar (Wrestling)

4. Jagdish Singh (Wrestling)

5. Reeth Abraham (Athletics)

6. M. Mahadeva (Athletics)

7. Ajay Jadeja (Cricket)

8. Sourav Ganguly (Cricket)

9. Surinder Singh Sodhi (Hockey)

10. Harmik Singh (Hockey)

11. Rajinder Singh Jr. (Hockey)

12. Brahmanand Sankhwalkar (Football)

13. Asif Ismail (Lawn Tennis)

14. Satendra Kumar (Shooting)

15. Shilpi Singh (Shooting)

16. Naresh Kumar Sharma (Shooting)

17. N. Laxmi (Weightlifting)

1998

Khel Ratna

Sachin Tendulkar, Cricket. See Sachin Tendulkar 1: A timeline

Dronacharya Award(s)

Bahadur Singh Athletics

Hargobind Singh Sandhu Athletics

G.S.Sandhu Boxing

Arjuna Awards

1. Pritam Rani Siwach (Hockey)

2. Surjit Singh Randhawa (Hockey)

3. B. S. Dhillon (Hockey)

4. S. Omana Kumari (Hockey)

5. Mohammed Riaz (Hockey)

6. Baldev Singh (Hockey)

7. Maharaj Krishan Kaushik (Hockey)

8. Narender Singh (Judo)

9. Ashan Kumar (Kabaddi)

10. Biswajit Palit (Kabaddi)

11. Roopa Unnikrishnan (Shooting)

12. Manavjit Sandhu (Shooting)

13. Bhanu Sachdeva (Swimming)

14. Subramaniam Raman (Table Tennis)

15. Satheesha Rai (Weightlifting)

16. Sirichand Ram (Athletics)

17. Neelam Jaswant Singh (Athletics)

18. S. D. Eshan (Athletics)

19. Rachita Mistry (Athletics)

20. Paramjit Singh (Athletics)

21. Dingko Singh (Boxing)

22. Kaka Pawar (Wrestling)

23. Rohtas Singh Dahiya (Wrestling)

24. Rahul Dravid (Cricket)

25. Nayan Mongia (Cricket)

26. Baichung Bhutia (Football)

1999

Khel Ratna

Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, Athletics

Dronacharya Award(s)

Kenneth Owen Bosen Athletics

Capt. Hawa Singh Boxing

Ajay Kumar Sirohi Weightlifting

Arjuna Awards

1. Nisha Millet (Swimming)

2. Sukhpal Singh (Volleyball)

3. Dalbir deol (Weightlifting)

4. Ashok Kumar (Wrestling)

5. Aashim Mongia (Yachting)

6. V. J. Phillips (Hockey)

7. Haripal Kaushik (Hockey)

8. Ramandeep Singh (Hockey)

9. Gulab Chand (Athletics)

10. G. Venkataravanappa (Athletics)

11. Gurmit Kaur (Athletics)

12. Parduman Singh (Athletics)

13. Sunita Rani (Athletics)

14. George Thomas (Badminton)

15. Sajjan Singh Cheema (Basketball)

16. Gurcharan Singh (Boxing)

17. Jitender Kumar (Boxing)

18. Jeev Milkha Singh (Golf)

19. Balbir Singh Kullar (Hockey)

20. Balwinder Singh (Kabaddi)

21. Tirath Raj (Kabaddi)

22. Jagjit Singh (Rowing)

23. Vivek Singh (Shooting)

24. Lt. Cdr. R. Mahesh (Yachting)

2000

Khel Ratna

Dhanraj Pillay, Hockey

Dronacharya Award(s)

S.M. Arif Badminton

Gudial Singh Bhangu Hockey

Phadke Gopal Pushottam Kho-Kho

Bhupender Dhawan Powerlifting

Hansa Sharma Weightlifting

Arjuna Awards

1. Venkatesh Prasad (Cricket)

2. Dr.Kalpana Debnath (Gymnastics)

3. Baljit Singh Saini (Hockey)

4. Tingonleima Chanu (Hockey)

5. Gp. Capt. R. S. Bhola (Hockey)

6. Balkishan Singh (Hockey)

7. Jalaluddin Rizvi (Hockey)

8. Madhu Yadav (Hockey)

9. C. Honappa (Kabaddi)

10. Akhtar Ali Lawn (Tennis)

11. Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar (Power Lifting)

12. K. M. Beenamol (Athletics)

13. Yadvendra Vashishta (Athletics)

14. Joginder Singh Bedi(Para Athlete For Lifetime Contribution) (Athletics)

15. Surender Singh Kanwasi (Rowing)

16. Pullela Gopichand (Badminton)

17. Anjali Bhagwat (Shooting)

18. Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi (Chess)

19. Abhinav Bindra (Shooting)

20. Gurbir Singh (Shooting)

21. Sebastian Xavier (Swimming)

22. J. Abhijith (Swimming)

23. P.V. Ramana (Volleyball)

24. Sanamacha Chanu (Weightlifting)

25. Randhir Singh (Wrestling)

26. Kripa Shankar Patel (Wrestling)

27. Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (Wrestling)

28. Naresh Kumar (Wrestling)

29. Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar (Athletics)

30. Milkha Singh (Athletics)

31. Rachana Govil (Athletics)

32. Vijayamala Bhanot (Athletics)

2001

Khel Ratna

Pullela Gopichand, Badminton

Dronacharya Award(s)

Prof. Sunny Thomas Shooting

Michael Joseph Ferreira Billiards & Snooker

Arjuna Awards

1. K.R. Shankar Iyer (Athletics)

2. Parminder Singh (Basketball)

3. V. V. S. Laxman (Cricket)

4. Amir Singh (Volleyball)

2002

Khel Ratna

Abhinav Bindra , Shooting

Dronacharya Award(s)

Renu Kohli Athletics

Jaswant Singh Athletics

M.K. Kaushik Hockey

E. Prasad Rao Kabaddi

Cdr. H.D. Motivala Yachting

Arjuna Awards

1. Anju Bobby George (Athletics)

2. Saraswati Saha (Athletics)

3. Ramesh Tikaram (Physically Challenged) (Badminton)

4. Alok Kumar (Billiards & Snooker)

5. Mohammed Ali Qamar (Boxing)

6. Krishnan Sasikiran (Chess)

7. Virender Sehwag (Cricket)

8. I. M. Vijayan (Football)

9. Shiv Kapur (Golf)

10. Dilip Tirkey (Hockey)

11. Gagan Ajit Singh (Hockey)

12. Mamta Kharab (Hockey)

13. Ram Mehar Singh (Kabaddi)

14. Anwer Sultan (Shooting)

15. Suma Shirur (Shooting)

16. Mantu Ghosh (Table Tennis)

17. Ravikant Reddy (Volleyball)

18. Thandava Murthy Muthu (Weightlifting)

19. Palwinder Singh Cheema (Wrestling)

20. Sujeet Mann (Wrestling)

21. Nitin Mongia (Yachting)

2003

Khel Ratna

Anjali Ved Pathak Bhagwat, Shooting

K. M. Beenamol, Athletics

Dronacharya Award(s)

Robert Bobby George Athletics

Anoopkumar Saharan Women's boxing

Rajinder Singh Hockey

Sukhchain Singh Cheema Wrestling

Arjuna Awards

1. Soma Biswas (Athletics)

2. Madhuri Saxena (Athletics)

3. Madasu Srinivas Rao (Physically Challenged) (Badminton)

4. Satya (Sports) (Basketball)

5. Pankaj Advani (Billiards & Snooker)

6. Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (Boxing)

7. Koneru Humpy (Chess)

8. Harbhajan Singh (Cricket)

9. Mithali Raj (Cricket)

10. Capt. Rajesh Pattu (Equestrian)

11. Deepak Kumar Mandal (Football)

12. Devesh Chauhan (Hockey)

13. Suraj Lata Devi (Hockey)

14. Akram Shah (Judo)

15. Sanjeev Kumar (Kabaddi)

16. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Shooting)

17. Shokhinder Tomar (Wrestling)

2004

Khel Ratna

Anju Bobby George, Athletics

Dronacharya Award(s)

Arvind Savur Billiards & Snooker

Sunita Sharma Cricket

Cyrus Poncha Squash

Gurcharan Singh Boxing

Arjuna Awards

1. Anuj Kumar (Wrestling)

2. Achanta Sharath Kamal (Table Tennis)

3. Deepali A. Deshpande (Shooting)

4. Jenil Krishnan (Rowing)

5. Sania Mirza (Lawn Tennis)

6. Sunder Singh (Kabaddi)

7. Angom Anita Chanu (Judo)

8. Deepak Thakur (Hockey)

9. Innocent Helen Mary (Hockey)

10. Jyotinder Singh Randhawa (Jyoti Randhawa) (Golf)

11. Maj. Deep Kumar Ahlawat (Equestrian)

12. Abhinn Shyam Gupta (Badminton)

13. Anil Kumar (Athletics)

14. J. J. Shobha (Athletics)

15. Devendra Jhajharia (Physically Challenged) (Athletics)

2005

Khel Ratna

Lt. Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Shooting

Dronacharya Award(s)

Hony. Captain M Venu Boxing

Balwan Singh Kabaddi

Maha Singh Rao Wrestling

Ismail Baig Rowing

Arjuna Awards

1. Tarundeep Rai (Archery)

2. Dola Banerjee (Archery)

3. Manjit Kaur (Athletics)

4. Aparna Popat (Badminton)

5. Anuja Prakash Thakur (Billiards & Snooker)

6. Akhil Kumar (Boxing)

7. Surya Shekhar Ganguly (Chess)

8. Anju Jain (Cricket)

9. Viren Rasquinha (Hockey)

10. Ramesh Kumar (Kabaddi)

11. Gagan Narang (Shooting)

12. Shikha Tandon (Swimming)

13. Soumyadeep Roy (Table Tennis)

14. Sushil Kumar, wrestler

15. B C Ramesh (Kabaddi)

16. Rajinder Singh Rahul (Power Lifting)

2006

Khel Ratna

Pankaj Advani, Billiards and Snooker

Dronacharya Award(s)

R.D. Singh Athletics

Damodaran Chandralal Boxing

Koneru Ashok Chess

Arjuna Awards

1. Jayanta Talukdar (Archery)

2. K. M. Binu (Athletics)

3. Rohit Bhakar (Badminton)

4. Vijender Singh (Boxing)

5. Pentyala Harikrishna (Chess)

6. Anjum Chopra (Cricket)

7. Jyoti Sunita Kullu (Hockey)

8. Naveen Gautam (Kabaddi)

9. Vijay Kumar (Shooting)

10. Saurav Ghosal (Squash)

11. Subhajit Saha (Table Tennis)

12. Geetika Jakhar (Wrestling)

13. Geeta Rani (Weightlifting)

14. Chetan Anand (Badminton)

2007

Khel Ratna

Manavjit Sandhu , Shooting

Dronacharya Award(s)

Sanjeev Kumar Singh Archery

Jagdish Singh Boxing

G.E. Sridharan Volleyball

Jagminder Singh Wrestling

Arjuna Awards

1. Avneet Sidhu (Shooting)

2. Alka Tomar (Wrestling)

3. Chitra Soman (Athletics)

4. Arjun Atwal (Golf)

5. Khumujam Tombi Devi (Judo)

6. Farman Bashan Power (Lifting)

2008

Khel Ratna

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Cricket

Arjuna Awards

1. Anup Sridhar (Badminton)

2. Varghese Johnson (Boxing)

3. Dronavalli Harika (Chess)

4. Prabhjot Singh (Hockey)

5. Pankaj Navnath Shrisat (Kabaddi)

6. Bajrang Lal Takhar (Rowing)

2009

Khel Ratna

Mary Kom , Boxing

Vijender Singh, Boxing

Sushil Kumar, wrestler

Dronacharya Award(s)

Pullela Gopichand Badminton

Satpal Wrestling

J. Uday Kumar Kabaddi

Baldev Singh Hockey

Jaidev Bisht Boxing

Arjuna Awards

1. Mangal Singh Champia (Archery)

2. Sinimol Paulose (Athletics)

3. Saina Nehwal (Badminton)

4. Laishram Sarita Devi (Boxing)

5. Tania Sachdev (Chess)

6. Gautam Gambhir (Cricket)

7. Ignace Tirkey (Hockey)

8. Satish Joshi (Rowing)

9. Ronjan Sodhi (Shooting)

10. Poulomi Ghatak (Table Tennis)

11. Yogeshwar Dutt (Wrestling)

12. Girdhari Lal Yadav (Yachting)

13. Surinder Kaur (Hockey)

2010

Khel Ratna

Saina Nehwal , Badminton

Dronacharya Award(s)

AK Kutty Athletics

Captain Chandrup Wrestling

Ajay Kumar Bansal Hockey

Subhash Agarwal Billiards & Snooker

L Ibomcha Singh Boxing

Arjuna Awards

1. K. J. Kapil Dev (Volleyball)

2. Rajiv Tomar (Wrestling)

3. Joseph Abraham (Athletics)

4. Krishna Poonia (Athletics)

5. Jagseer Singh (Athletics)

6. Dinesh Kumar (Boxing)

7. Parimrajan Negi (Chess)

8. Jhulan Goswami (Cricket)

9. Deepak Mondal (Football)

10. Jasjeet Kaur Handa (Hockey)

11. Dinesh (Kabaddi)

12. Sanjeev Rajput (Shooting)

13. Rehan Poncha (Swimming)

2011

Khel Ratna

Gagan Narang , Shooting

Dronacharya Award(s)

Inukurthi Venkateshwara Rao Boxing

Devender Kumar Rathore Gymnastics

Ramphal Athletics

Kuntal Roy Athletics

Rajinder Singh Hockey

Arjuna Awards

1. Zaheer Khan (Cricket)

2. Sunil Chhetri (Football)

3. Ashish Kumar (Gymnastics)

4. Rajpal Singh (Hockey)

5. Rakesh kumar (Kabaddi)

6. Somdev Devvarman (Lawn Tennis)

7. Tejaswini Sawant (Shooting)

8. Virdhawal Khade (Swimming)

9. Sanjay kumar (Volleyball)

10. Katulu Ravi Kumar (Weightlifting)

11. Ravinder Singh (Wrestling)

12. Rahul Banerjee (Archery)

13. Jwala Gutta (Badminton)

14. Suranjoy Singh (Boxing)

15. Preeja Sreedharan (Athletics)

16. Tejaswini bai (Kabaddi)

2012

Khel Ratna

Vijay Kumar, Shooting

Yogeshwar Dutt, Wrestling

Dronacharya Award(s)

Virendra Poonia Athletics

Sunil Dabas Kabaddi (Women)

Yashvir Singh Wrestling

Harendra Singh Hockey

Satyapal Singh Para Sports(Athletics)

J.S. Bhatia Athletics

Bhavani Mukharjee Table Tennis

B.I. Fernandez (Cuba) Boxing

Arjuna Awards

1. Bombayla Devi Laishram (Archery)

2. Ramkaran Singh (Athletics)

3. Parupalli Kashyap (Badminton)

4. Aditya Mehta (Billiards & Snooker)

5. Vikas Krishan Yadav (Boxing)

6. Yuvraj Singh (Cricket)

7. Sardar Singh (Hockey)

8. Yashpal Solanki (Judo)

9. Anup Kumar (Kabaddi)

10. Samir Suhag (Polo)

11. Joydeep Karmakar (Shooting)

12. Deepika Pallikal (Squash)

13. Sandeep Sejwal (Swimming)

14. Ngangbam Soniya Chanu (Weightlifting)

15. Geeta Phogat (Wrestling)

16. M. Bimoljit Singh (Wushu)

17. Annu Raj Singh (Shooting)

18. Omkar Singh (Shooting)

19. Narsingh Pancham Yadav (Wrestling)

20. Deepa Mullick (Athletics)

21. Kavita Ramdas Raut (Athletics)

22. Sudha Singh (Athletics)

23. Ashwini Ponnappa (Badminton)

24. Deepika Prajapati (Archery)

25. Rajinder Kumar (Wrestling)

2013

Khel Ratna

Ronjan Sodhi

Dronacharya Award(s)

Poornima Mahato Archery

Mahavir Singh Boxing

Narinder Singh Saini Hockey

K P Thomas Athletics

Raj Singh Wrestling

Arjuna Awards

Chekrovolu Swuro (Archery),

Renjith Maheshwary (Athletics)

PV Sindhu (Badminton)

Kavita Chahal (Boxing)

Rupesh Shah (Snooker and Billiards)

Virat Kohli (Cricket)

Abhijeet Gupta (Chess)

Gaganjeet Bhullar (Golf)

Saba Anjum (Hockey)

Rajkumari Rathore (Shooting)

Joshna Chinappa (Squash)

Mouma Das (Table Tennis)

Neha Rathi (Wrestling)

Dharmender Dalal (Wrestling)

Amit Kumar Saroha (Athletics)

Those considered for Khel Ratna 2013

But did not make it

Somdev Devvarman (tennis)

Jeev Milkha Singh (golf)

HN Girisha (para athletics)

Krishna Poonia (athletics)

Sandeep Singh (hockey)

Bhupinder (powerlifting)

2013 awards: highlights

Gunmaster Sodhi gets coveted Khel Ratna

Biswajyoti Brahma | TNN

The Times of India 2013/08/14

Ronjan Sodhi got lucky the third time. The ace shooter was picked to receive the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, a decision which fulfilled a long-cherished dream of the Delhi-based marksman.

Sodhi, who won a silver medal in the World Cup finals 2013, got the nod of the selection panel on his third nomination — he was also nominated for the Khel Ratna in 2011 and 2012. 2013 is the third straight year that a shooter will receive the country’s highest sporting honour — Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar got it 2011 and 2012 respectively – and Sodhi will become the seventh shooter to get it since the inception of the award in 1991.

“In 2009 when I went to the Rashtrapati Bhawan for the Arjuna award, wearing a red blazer, I couldn’t take my eyes off the three sportspersons in blue blazers who had won the Khel Ratna that year — Vijender Kumar, Sushil Kumar and MC Mary Kom. I thought that probably I would also get to wear the coveted blazer one day,” Sodhi told The Times of India.

The shooter said the award would motivate him to work harder to ensure a podium-finish in the Rio Olympics. “London was my first Olympics and I went there as one of the favourites. I went there with a lot of pressure on me. I was in extremely good form and my training was good. I was leading in the first round. Everything was on a platter for me. Somehow, London was not for me,” he said looking back.

“After London, a lot of things were written and spoken about me. That was one stage where I slipped and I had to prove myself again. I think I did that by winning the silver in the World Cup finals. Now awards like this can only encourage and motivate me to do well in the future. I am definitely going to work harder now and ensure that whatever disappointment was there in London should not be there in Rio.”

2013: controversies

Controversy strikes as awardees are named

SAI DG Dissents After An Arjuna Pick Is Dropped; Poonia, Girisha Livid After Snub

V Narayan Swamy, Srivathsa Sridhar & Ritu Sejwal | TNN

The Times of India 2013/08/14

Sports Authority of India (SAI) director general Jiji Thomson, who was one of the members of the committee, expressed his displeasure to the sports ministry that the name of former international volleyball player Tom Joseph, who was one of the 16 athletes chosen for the Arjuna, was removed from the list in his absence. He made it clear that he had nothing against the other 15 chosen.

The Khel Ratna row revolved around discus thrower Krishna Poonia and Paralympic silver medallist HN Girisha who lost out to shooter Ronjan Sodhi.

Sources in the selection committee contended that Poonia and Girisha were shortlisted for voting by 11 out of 12 panelists with Sodhi’s name not in contention. Poonia garnered an 8-3 verdict before one panel member made a late entry and swung the vote in favour of Sodhi.

Poonia was disappointed. “We talk about bringing change in the society, but no one supports you when it is time to encourage. My achievements, despite having a 12-year-old son, speak for themselves” she fumed.

Girisha, 25-year-old, who was awarded the Padma Shri this year, said the snub was a double blow after the ministry “failed to honour its promise” of giving him a job as a coach in the Sports Authority of India. “All other medal winners from the London Games have been treated with utmost respect and I’m still struggling for recognition,” Girisha said.

2014

Dronacharya Award(s)

Mahabir Prasad Wrestling

Jose Jacob Rowing

N.Lingappa Athletics

G. Manoharan Boxing

Gurcharan Singh Gogi Judo

Arjuna Awards

1. Abhishek Verma (Archery)

2. Tintu Luka (Athletics)

3. Valiyaveetil Diju (Badminton)

4. Geetu Anna Jose (Basketball)

5. Jai Bhagwan (Boxing)

6. Anirban Lahiri (Golf)

7. Mamta Pujari (Kabaddi)

8. Heena Sidhu (Shooting)

9. Anaka Alankamony (Squash)

10. Tom Joseph (Volleyball)

11. Yumnam Chanu (Weightlifting)

12. Sunil Kumar Rana (Wrestling)

13. Saji Thomas (Rowing)

14. Garish Hosanagara Nagarajegowda (Athletics)

15. Ravichandran Ashwin (Cricket)

2015

The Times of India, Aug 30 2015

In 2015, Sania Mirza became the world's women's doubles No. 1 the second tennis player to receive the prestigious Arjuna Award after Leander Paes.

A total of 12 athletes including Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold-winning shooter Jitu Rai, World wrestling bronze medalist Bajrang, world No. 4 shuttler K Srikanth and para-swimmer Sharath Gayakwad were conferred the Arjuna award, which carries a statuette, certificate and cash award of Rs 5 lakh. Nihar Ameen became the first swimming coach to get the Dronacharya Award, which also carries a cash award of Rs 5 lakh.

Arjuna awards

Bajrang Singh (wrestler),

Kidambi Srikanth (Badminton),

Sandeep Kumar (Archery),

Dipa Karmakar (Gymnastics),

Manjeet Chillar (Kabaddi),

Abhilasha Shashikant Mhatre (Kabaddi),

Anup Kumar Yama (Roller skater),

Sivalingam Sathish Kumar Sathish Sivalingam (weightlifting),

Y Sanathoi Devi (Wushu) and Sharath M. Gaekwad (Para-swimming),

Mandeep Jangra (Boxer),

MR Poovamma (400m runner),

Babita Kumari (Wrestling),

Rohit Sharma (Cricket),

Swarn Singh Virk (Rowing)

Dronacharya awards

Anoop Kumar Dahiya (wrestling),

Harbans Singh (athletics),

Swatantar Raj Singh (boxing),

Nihar Ameen (swimming)

Naval Singh (para-athletics).

Dhyan Chand

TPP Nair (Volleyball),

SP Misra (Tennis),

Romeo James (Hockey)

2016

Aug 23 2016: The Times of India, Khel Ratna for four

The country's highest sporting award -Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -will be conferred upon four athletes this year. Two of them returned with medals from Rio. The ministry also selected 15 athletes for this year's Arjuna Award.

Arjuna Awards 2016 <> The Times of India

The complete list:

Khel Ratna

PV Sindhu (badminton),

Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics),

Jitu Rai (shooting)

Sakshi Malik (wrestling).

Dronacharya Awards

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

Rajat Chauhan (archery),

Lalita Babar (athletics),

Sourav Kothari (billiards and snooker),

Shiva Thapa (boxing),

Ajinkya Rahane (cricket),

Subrata Paul (football),

Rani (hockey),

VR Raghunath (hockey),

Gurpreet Singh (shooting),

Apurvi Chandela (shooting),

Soumyajit Ghosh (table tennis),

Vinesh Phogat (wrestling),

Amit Kumar (wrestling),

Sandeep Singh Mann (para-athletics),

Virender Singh (wrestling, deaf).

Other awards

Dhyan Chand Award:

Satti Geetha (athletics),

Sylvanus Dung Dung (hockey),

Rajendra Pralhad Shelke (rowing).

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2016:

1. Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent:

Hockey Citizen Group,

Dadar Parsee Zorostrian cricket club,

Usha School of Athletics,

STAIRS.

2. Encouragement to sports through corporate social responsibility:

India Infrastructure Finance Corporate Limited.

3. Employment to sportspersons and other welfare measures:

Reserve Bank of India.

4. Sports for Development:

Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2015-16:

Punjabi University, Patiala.

2017

Saibal Bose, August 4, 2017: The Times of India

Khel Ratna recommendations and Arjuna Awards recommendations, 2017; Saibal Bose, August 4, 2017: The Times of India

Devendra Jhajharia wasn't surprised when he, along with former India hockey captain Sardar Singh, was named for Khel Ratna. “I was expecting it,“ Jhajharia told.That doesn't lessen the joy, though. Jaipur-based Jhajharia will be the first differently abled athlete to receive the coveted award. “I and my family are obviously very happy,“ para-athlete Jhajharia, who won the javelin gold in F46 category at the Rio Paralympics last year, said. “Going by the number of calls I have received, I feel entire India is happy for me.“

Acknowledging the support he received from his family, Jhajharia also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for encouraging and inspiring him. “It is not always that para-athletes find mention in a Prime Minister's speech,“ he said.

However, the 37-year-old para-athlete feels he should have got the award 12 years ago, when he had won the gold in the same event at the Athens Paralympics. “I had won the gold with a world record,“ he said. “I should have got this award at that time.“ Better late than never, he agreed.

He does admit that the outlook towards para-athletes have changed since his Rio gold. “Earlier no one would invite a para-athlete for a talk show on the same platform with normal athletes.“

If his Athens gold went largely unnoticed, the one at Rio was celebrated across the country. “I could feel the difference,“ he admitted. Khel Ratna is a continuation of that celebration.

Incidentally, Jhajharia improved his world record in Rio with a throw of 63.97m.He had received the Arjuna Award in 2004 and was the first para-athlete ever to have been honoured with Padmashri in 2012.

Hailing from Churu district in Rajasthan, Jhajharia lost part of his left arm when he was eight, after being electrocuted.

Despite advancing age, he is not willing to rest on his laurels yet. “There is the Asian Para Games in 2018“ he said. “I am preparing for it.“ And then there is Tokyo Paralympics in 2020. “I will definitely be there in Tokyo.“

And return with a gold and world record, maybe.

Complete list

Khel Ratna

1. Devendra Jhajharia (Para- Athlete)

2. Sardar Singh (Hockey).

Arjuna Awards

1. V J Surekha (Archery)

2. Khushbir Kaur (Athletics)

3. Arokin Rajiv (Athletics)

4. Prasanthi Singh (Basketball)

5. L Devendro Singh (Boxing)

6. Cheteshwar Pujara (Cricket)

7. Harmanpreet Kaur (Cricket)

8. Oinam Bembem Devi (Football)

9. SSP Chawrasia (Golf)

10. S V Sunil (Hockey)

11. Jasvir Singh (Kabaddi)

12. P N Prakash (Shooting)

13.A Amalraj (Table Tennis)

14. Saketh Myneni (Tennis)

15. Satyawart Kadian (Wrestling)

16. Mariyappan Thangavelu (Para-Athlete)

17. Varun Bhati (Para-Athlete).

2018

Sabi Hussain, Virat pips Srikanth to Khel Ratna; Mirabai too gets coveted award, September 18, 2018: The Times of India

Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu’s names have been jointly recommended for this year’s prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, middle-distance runner Jinson Johnson, sprinter Hima Das, golfer Shubhankar Sharma, table tennis player Manika Batra and tennis player Rohan Bopanna are among 20 sportspersons who have been recommended for the Arjuna award.

The names have been recommended to the sports ministry by the 11-member award committee, which met here on Monday. The committee was headed by retired Delhi High Court judge, Justice Indermeet Kaul Kochhar. The list will be forwarded to sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore for final approval.

Virat can count himself third-time lucky after his name was rejected for the award on two earlier occasions. The BCCI had first nominated him in 2016, but he lost out to Rio Olympics medallists P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik and gymnast Dipa Karmakar. Then, last year, former hockey captain Sardar Singh and para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia were awarded the Khel Ratna.

This year, too, there was some discusssion among the committee members over his name. According to a member, the opinion was divided between Virat and badminton player Kidambi Srikanth, but the batting superstar prevailed given his stupendous current form.

In the five-Test England series, which India lost 1-4 under his captaincy, Virat amassed 593 runs. “We have a different point system to consider the performances in Olympic sports. How would you quantify a performance in cricket? That was the moot question,” a panel member told TOI.

“Virat is an exceptionally talented cricketer and a team leader, but then he was conferred the Padma Shri last year itself. Srikanth too has been doing well at the Super Series circuit. So, there was some discussion, but Virat unanimously got the nod,” the member added.

After Virat and Mirabai’s selection, there was a voting for Srikanth among the committee members, but the opinion remained divided. If Kohli, the world’s No.1 Test and ODI batsman, does get the ministry’s approval, he will become the third cricketer after Tendulkar (1997) and Dhoni (2007) to receive the award.

Mirabai, on the other hand, won the recommendation hands down, with all the committee members agreeing to her name. Mirabai had won a historic gold (48kg category) at the Las Vegas Worlds last year and clinched another yellow metal at the Gold Coast CWG. However, she missed participating at the Asiad due to injury.

The names of boxer Amit Panghal, 2018 Asiad gold winner, and discus thrower Seema Punia also came up for consideration but were dropped, apparently due to doping issues.

Khel Ratna

Virat Kohli (cricket)

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting)

Arjuna award

Neeraj Chopra (athletics)

Jinson Johnson (athletics)

Hima Das (athletics)

N Sikki Reddy (badminton)

Satish Kumar (boxing)

Smriti Mandhana (cricket)

Shubhankar Sharma (golf)

Manpreet Singh (hockey)

Savita Punia (hockey)

Colonel Ravi Rathore (polo)

Rahi Sarnobat (shooting)

Ankur Mittal (shooting)

Shreyasi Singh (shooting)

Manika Batra (table tennis)

G Sathiayan (table tennis)

Rohan Bopanna (tennis)

Sumit Malik (wrestling)

Pooja Kadian (wushu)

Ankur Dhama (para-athletics)

Manoj Sarkar (para-badminton)

Bajrang aggrieved

Sabi Hussain, Kohli got Khel Ratna with ‘0’ pts, Bajrang lost out with 80, September 21, 2018: The Times of India

The scores of all those who were considered for the Khel Ratna awards, 2018
From: Sabi Hussain, Kohli got Khel Ratna with ‘0’ pts, Bajrang lost out with 80, September 21, 2018: The Times of India

Wrestler Says He Will Move Court In Protest

Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli obtained ‘zero’ points while reigning world champion weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu earned 44 points on way to being named for this year’s Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna by the 11-member selection panel.

While Kohli’s performance sheet had no points because no criteria has been set for cricket, according to documents with TOI, there were at least six other Khel Ratna aspirants who totalled more points than Chanu. Wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, who totalled 80 points each, scored the highest points based on their achievements, yet it was a show of hands that ultimately decided that the Indian Test captain and Mirabai (who edged out shuttler Kidambi Srikanth) would receive India’s highest sports award this year.

After a meeting with the sports minister on Thursday, Punia told TOI he would move court on Friday against his name being overlooked for the award despite having the highest performance points.

The document, which breaks down the total points awarded based on achievements for 17 sportspersons shortlisted for the 2018 award, had paraathlete Deepa Malik behind Punia and Phogat with 78.4 points, followed by table tennis player Manika Batra (65), boxer Vikas Krishan (52) and archer Abhishek Verma (55.3).

There’s no points system for cricket, which is not an Olympic sport. Often, cricketers are selected through consensus, leaving scope for controversy. A committee member confessed to TOI that there was a debate over how the performance of Kohli (whose name had been rejected in 2016 and 2017) should be judged since the points system has been framed keeping in mind performances in Olympic and international tournaments.

‘What’s the use of points?’

When Kohli’s name came up for discussion, it was decided to pick him through a show of hands in the absence of a points system for cricket,” a member said. “Eight out of the 11 members supported Kohli’s candidature and that’s how his name was recommended,” he added.

“In the case of Mirabai and Srikanth, the same process was followed. Seven members raised their hands for Mirabai and six in favour of Srikanth. So, Mirabai became the second recommendation. There was a further debate on Srikanth’s inclusion and an internal voting also took place. But, opinion remained divided on his name, and only Kohli and Mirabai’s names were recommended. Bajrang and Vinesh’s names too came up for discussion, but they weren’t considered for the award,” the member added.

Interestingly, the committee can award discretionary points (up to 20) to a sportsperson over and above the points given for achievements in Olympics, world championships, Asian and Commonwealth Games.

Out of the 17 applicants, the committee shortlisted 11 and awarded them points – Chanu (19), Kohli (18.5), Srikanth (18), Vinesh (13), Rohan Bopanna (12), Bajrang Punia (12), Neeraj Chopra (15), Deepa Malik (12), Vikas Krishan (14), Manika Batra (13) and para-wrestler Virender Singh (12). It still left Mirabai with 63 (44+19) points, Punia with 92 (80+12), Phogat at 93 (80+13), Malik at 90.4 (78.4+12), Batra at 78 (65+13) and Vikas at 66 (52+14) points.

Punia, the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Jakarta Asian Games gold medallist, told TOI that he would move court on Friday after being snubbed for the award. Punia’s contention was simple: The committee awarded him the highest score, but he was still ignored for the country’s highest sporting award. “I want to ask them (committee members) a simple question: ‘What’s the use of having a points system in place when you don’t adhere to it?’” he asked.

“If the members want to ignore my credentials despite it being amply visible that Vinesh and I have accumulated the maximum points, then what option do I have other than moving court?” Bajrang said. “I have immense respect for Kohli and Mirabai. They are two champion sportspersons, but if I look at my credentials and that of Mirabai, there is no comparison. You gave her the award, give it to me as well, it’s simple,” he added.

Bajrang later met sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to plead his case. “I only got assurances from the minister but I won’t wait until next year,” he told TOI.

This year’s Khel Ratna and Arjuna committee was headed by a retired Delhi high court judge, Justice Indermeet Kaul Kochhar, and had former sportspersons Ashwini Nachappa, Kamlesh Mehta, Samresh Jung and Vimal Kumar as members, among others. Marking for Punia’s achievements was done based on his silver medal at 2014 Glasgow CWG (20 points), silver in 2014 Incheon Asiad (25 points), gold in Gold Coast CWG (25 points) and gold in Jakarta Asiad (30 points), taking his total ‘score obtained’ to 100 points. The ‘converted score’ (final points) awarded by the committee came up to 80 points.

In Mirabai’s case, three of her performances were considered for the recommendation – silver in Glasgow CWG (20 points), gold at 2017 Las Vegas Worlds which is held every year (10 points) and Gold Coast CWG gold (25 points), totalling 55 points. The committee’s converted score was 44 points. Vinesh also had 100 points and her ‘converted score’ came to 80 points. Her Glasgow gold (25), Incheon bronze (20), Gold Coast CWG gold (25) and Jakarta Asiad gold (30) were taken into consideration.

…as were those trained by Jiwanjot Singh

Archery coach dropped from Dronacharya list, September 20, 2018: The Times of India

Indian archers have expressed shock over the sports ministry’s decision to strike off the name of archery coach Jiwanjot Singh from the list of Dronacharya award nominees due to a case of indiscipline lodged against him three years ago.

Abhishek Verma, who settled for silver in the men’s compound archery team event at the Asian Games, said Jiwanjot has been punished for no fault of his.

Jiwanjot’s was the only name dropped from the list of Dronacharya awardees, with the ministry clearing all other recommendations in the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyanchand awards categories.

Jiwanjot’s name was apparently dropped after the ministry found out that he had served a one-year ban imposed by the Archery Association of India (AAI) following an incident of indiscipline during the 2015 World University Games in South Korea.

2020

Khel Ratna

It’s official: Five to get Khel Ratna award, August 22, 2020: The Times of India

Cricketer Rohit Sharma, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, table tennis player Manika Batra, para-high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu and women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal will be conferred with the country’s highest sporting honour – Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – this year, the government announced on Friday. This will be the first time that five sportspersons will be receiving the Khel Ratna on the occasion of the National Sports Day on August 29.

Also, for the first time, a total of 27 athletes will be bestowed with the Arjuna award, including cricketers Ishant Sharma and Deepti Sharma, sprinter Dutee Chand, recurve archer Atanu Das, woman boxer Lovlina Borgohain, footballer Sandesh Jhingan, golfer Aditi Ashok, hockey player Akashdeep Singh, shooters Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, badminton doubles pair Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, rower Dattu Bhokanal, tennis player Divij Sharan and wrestlers Divya Kakran and Rahul Aware.

The names of past Khel Ratna awardees, wrestler Sakshi Malik and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, were not considered by sports minister Kiren Rijiju for the Arjuna. The names of two were not recommended by the 12-member selection committee in the originally approved list of 27 sportspersons. The decision of bestowing the Arjuna on them was left to the discretion of the minister and Rijiju decided against it.

Khel Ratna/ Arjuna awards: The perquisites

As in 2020

Hindol Basu, June 9, 2020: The Times of India

KHEL RATNA:

Rs 7.5 lakh; medal and certificate

ARJUNA: Rs 5 lakh; statuette, ceremonial dress, certificate

Some benefits for Arjuna winners:

Air Travel: 6 one way or return tickets in a financial year from Air India for travel within India, besides 50% of basic airfare on select booking classes in economy.

Rail Travel: Complimentary card for lifelong free AC 1st or 2nd class travel. On attaining age 65, the sportsperson can have a companion in the same class.

Prize money

2020: a major increase

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju announces massive hike in prize money of National Sports Awards, August 29, 2020: The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju officially announced a massive hike in the prize money in four of the seven categories of the National Sports and Adventure Awards, which were given away in a virtual ceremony this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The prize money for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has been increased to a whopping Rs 25 lakh from the previous amount of Rs 7.5 lakh, while Arjuna Award has been enhanced to Rs 15 lakh from Rs 5 lakh. The Dhronacharya (Lifetime) awardees, who were earlier given Rs 5 lakh, will now be richer by Rs 15 lakh, while Dhronacharya (Regular) winners will be given Rs 10 lakh instead of Rs 5 lakh.

The prize money of Dhyan Chand Award has been increased to Rs 10 lakh from Rs 5 lakh.

The hike will come into effect from this year.

"The prize money for the Sports Awards was last reviewed in 2008. These amounts should be reviewed once every 10 years at least. If professionals in every field have seen an enhancement in their earnings, why not our sportspersons," Rijiju said in a release.

Star cricketer Rohit Sharma, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, women's hockey captain Rani Rampal, paddler Manika Batra and Rio Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu are part of an unprecedented five picked for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award this year.

Besides, a whopping 27 athletes have been chosen for the Arjuna Award, while 13 coaches will be conferred with the Dronacharya Award and 15 others have been short-listed for the Dhyan Chand honour.

Acknowledgements

All missing details were obtained from Experts Brain and Experts Brain