India's Top Sports Honour: No Cricketer Shortlisted, Hockey Star Hardik Singh Leads Khel Ratna Nominees
Image Source: Internet
For the second consecutive year, no cricketer has been selected for India's National Sports Awards. The selection committee announced its recommendations on Wednesday, naming India men's hockey team vice-captain Hardik Singh as the sole nominee for the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award. The Arjuna Award shortlist includes 24 athletes, with Hardik being the only hockey player among the nominees. Hardik has been a key player in India's hockey set-up, contributing to the team's success in the Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games. He also played a crucial role in India's gold medal-winning campaign at the Asia Cup earlier this year. The Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honour, carries a medallion, a citation, and a cash prize of INR 25 lakh. The Arjuna Award includes a prize money of INR 15 lakh. Notably, the list does not feature any cricketer, with the last cricketer to receive the Arjuna Award being Mohammed Shami in 2023. Other notable nominees for the Arjuna Award include Yogasan athlete Aarti Pal, who will be the first representative from her sport to receive the award; chess players Divya Deshmukh and Vidit Gujrathi; gymnast Pranati Nayak; and India's top-ranked women's badminton pair, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand. The National Sports Awards recommendations are as follows: Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna: Hardik Singh (Hockey) Arjuna Awards: - Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics) - Priyanka (Athletics) - Narender (Boxing) - Vidit Gujrathi (Chess) - Divya Deshmukh (Chess) - Dhanush Srikanth (Deaf Shooting) - Pranati Nayak (Gymnastics) - Rajkumar Pal (Hockey) - Surjeet (Kabaddi) - Nirmala Bhati (Kho Kho) - Rudransh Khandelwal (Para-Shooting) - Ekta Bhyan (Para-athletics) - Padmanabh Singh (Polo) - Arvind Singh (Rowing) - Akhil Sheoran (Shooting) - Mehuli Ghosh (Shooting) - Sutirtha Mukherjee (Table Tennis) - Sonam Malik (Wrestling) - Aarti (Yoga) - Treesa Jolly (Badminton) - Gayatri Gopichand (Badminton) - Lalremsiami (Hockey) - Mohammed Afsal (Athletics) - Pooja (Kabaddi)
