Sindhu, Sakshi, Dipa, Jitu Rai to get Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

Dipa's coach among six selected for Dronacharya award

August 22, 2016 06:16 pm | Updated August 23, 2016 01:45 pm IST

A day after the Olympic Games came to an end in Rio de Janerio, the government on Monday conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2016 to Olympic medallists P.V. Sindhu and Sakshi Malik; ace gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who lost a medal by a whisker, and shooter Jitu Rai. This is for the first time the nation's highest sporting award has been conferred on four athletes.

Dipa Karmakar's coach, Bishweshwar Nandi, has been selected for the Dronacharya Award, alongwith Nagapuri Ramesh (athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (boxing), Raj Kumar Sharma (cricket), S. Pradeep Kumar (swimming) and Mahabir Singh (wrestling).

Fifteen sportspersons will be honoured with the Arjuna Award and three with the Dhyan Chand Award.

Besides, the Punjabi University of Patiala will be awarded the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2015-16.

Apart from a medal and a citation, a Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee will receive a cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh. The Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and cash prize of Rs.5 lakh each, said a press release from the Sports Ministry.

The Selection Committee for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and the Arjuna Award was headed by Justice S.K. Agarwal, retired Delhi High Court Judge. The Selection Committee for the Dronacharya Award and the Dhyan Chand Award was headed by M.C. Mary Kom.

The awards will be distributed by President Pranab Mukherjee on August 29.

Our Special Correspondent adds:

The Ministry also selected 15 athletes for the Arjuna Award. The ministry had earlier cleared Rai and Dipa’s names for the award with the caveat that any medallist at Rio would automatically be included in the list.

Full list of awardees:

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2016

Name of awardee

Discipline

P.V. Sindhu

Badminton

Sakshi Malik

Wrestling

Dipa Karmakar

Gymnastics

Jitu Rai

Shooting

Dronacharya Award 2016

Name of awardee

Discipline

Nagapuri Ramesh

Athletics

Sagar Mal Dhayal

Boxing

Raj Kumar Sharma

Cricket

Bishweshwar Nandi

Gymnastics

S. Pradeep Kumar

Swimming (lifetime)

Mahabir Singh

Wrestling (lifetime)

Arjuna Award 2016

Name of awardee

Discipline

Rajat Chauhan

Archery

Lalita Babar

Athletics

Sourav Kothari

Billiards and Snooker

Shiva Thapa

Boxing

Ajinkya Rahane

Cricket

Rani

Hockey

Subrata Paul

Football

V R Raghunath

Hockey

Gurpreet Singh

Shooting

Apurvi Chandela

Shooting

Soumyajit Ghosh

Table Tennis

Vinesh Poghat

Wrestling

Amit Kumar

Wrestling

Sandeep Singh Mann

Para-Athletics

Virender Singh

Wrestling (deaf)

Dhyan Chand Award 2015

Name of Awardee

Discipline

Satti Geetha

Athletics

Sylvanus Dung Dung

Hockey

Rajendra Pralhad Shelke

Rowing

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