Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
Paralympian Deepa Malik led the star prade as she became the first woman para-athlete and the oldest to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, here on Thursday,
However, Asian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist wrestler Bajrang Punia,who is the other Khel Ratna award winner was not present at the ceremony to receive it , a he is presently training in Russia for the upcoming World Championships. He will receive the award from Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on his return from the World Championships to be held in Kazakhstan from September 14.
Deepa, 49, also became only the second para-athlete to win the award after two-time Paralympics gold medallist javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia, who received the recognition in 2017.
“I am very happy. This whole journey has been more about changing the attitude of people towards disability and the hidden potential in people with disability. I think the award is going to be a huge inspiration to disabled women athletes. It took 70 years for independent India to win a medal (women’s) in Paralympics,” Deepa said.
Nineteen other sportspersons were conferred with the Arjuna Award, including shuttler B. Sai Praneeth, who recently claimed a bronze at the BWF World Championships ending India’s 36-year wait for a medal in the men’s section of the meet, cricketer Poonam Yadav, track and field stars Tejinder Pal Toor, Swapna Barman, footballer Gurpreet Sandhu, and hockey player Chinglensana Singh Kangujam ..
“It’s a dream come true moment for me. I would like to thank the Athletics Federation of India for recommending my name. This award will inspire me to achieve greater things in future,” Swapna Barman told media persons after the ceremony.
“I want to dedicate this award to the seniors who made this possible for me. This award is for the future generation of Indian football. I hope this will act as a catalyst to inspire them,” said national team goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu.
Dronacharya Award for coaches was given to Vimal Kumar (badminton), Sandeep Gupta (table tennis) and Mohinder Singh Dhillon (athletics).
while Sanjay Bhardwaj (cricket), Rambir Singh Khokar (kabaddi) and Mezban Patel (hockey) were awarded with the Dronacharya Award in the lifetime category.
Apart from Punia, other prominent absentees on were 10m air rifle specialist Anjum Moudgill, because of her participation in the ISSF’s World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, he is with Indian team away in West Indies, and silver-winner quartermiler Mohammed Anas, who is participation at the ongoing 59th National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Lucknow. All of them were picked for the Arjuna award this year.
The Khel Ratna award carries a prize purse of Rs 7.5 lakh while the Arjuna awardees are given Rs 5 lakh each along with citations.
The awardees: (including those who were not present to receive it )
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award: Bajrang Punia (wrestling), Deepa Malik (para-athletics)
Dronacharya Award: Vimal Kumar (badminton), Sandeep Gupta (table tennis), Mohinder Singh Dhillon (athletics)
Dronacharya Award (life-time category): Merzban Patel (hockey), Rambir Singh Khokhar (kabaddi), Sanjay Bhardwaj (cricket)
Arjuna Award: Tajinderpal Singh Toor (athletics), Mohammad Anas Yahiya (athletics), S. Bhaskaran (body building), Sonia Lather (boxing), Ravindra Jadeja (cricket), Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (hockey), Ajay Thakur (kabaddi), Gaurav Singh Gill (motorsports), Pramod Bhagat (para-badminton), Anjum Moudgil (shooting), Harmeet Rajul Desai (table tennis), Pooja Dhanda (wrestling), Fouaad Mirza (equestrian), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (football), Poonam Yadav (cricket), Swapna Barman (athletics), Sundar Singh Gurjar (para-athletics), Bhamidpati Sai Praneeth (badminton), Simran Shergill (polo)
Dhyanchand Award: Manuel Fredricks (hockey), Arup Basak (table tennis), Manoj Kumar (wrestling), Nitten Kirtane (tennis), C. Lalremsanga (archery)
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards: Aparna Kumar (land adventure), Late Dipankar Ghosh (land adventure), Manikandan K (land adventure), Prabhat Raju Koli (water adventure), RameshwerJangra (air adventure)
Lifetime achievement award: Wangchuk Sherpa
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: Go Sports Foundation; Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation (GNSPF); Rayalaseema Development Trust
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy: Punjab University, Chandigarh