Chess GM Vaishali, her coach Ramesh, among recipients of National Sports Awards 2023

After a long hiatus, a chess coach walked away with the Dronacharya award, with RB Ramesh — who coaches Vaishali as well as her younger brother and chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa — winning the highest award for coaches.

Kabaddi coach Bhaskaran Edachery from Kerala was another recipient of the Dronocharya award.

The National Sports Awards recognise outstanding performances and honour the exceptional dedication and prowess of athletes and coaches across diverse disciplines.

While the Khel Ratna comes with a cash prize of ₹25 lakh, the Arjuna and Dronacharya awards include a cash prize of ₹15 lakh.

Also Read: National Sports Awards 2022

Awards presented

An atmosphere of gaiety pervaded the Rashtrapati Bhawan as the 26 athletes and para-athletes were conferred the Arjuna Awards.

Sheetal Devi, who won two gold medals in the Hangzhou Asian Games, is the first international para archer without upper limbs due to a rare condition called Phocomelia.

Cricketer Mohammed Shami, who is currently recovering from an ankle injury, was there to receive the honour. He took 24 wickets in seven World Cup games last year.

Receiving a huge round of applause was the newly-crowned chess Grandmaster Vaishali, honoured for becoming the third woman from the country after Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika to turn GM.

Pistol shooting sensation, 19-year-old Esha Singh, was among the notable absentees as she is competing in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta.

On Monday, she qualified for the Paris Olympics after winning the individual and team gold in 10m air pistol events.

Other sporting bigwigs who were chosen for the Arjuna award this year were wrestler Antim Panghal, a former junior world champion and bronze-winner at the senior event last year, boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin (bronze-winner at last year’s world championship), and Diksha Dagar for golf.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu’s Pragg ends long wait for chess Arjuna Award

Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards

The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award was presented to badminton duo Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy. They are the only doubles pair from India to become world No 1 in the BWF World Ranking, win the BWF World Tour 1000 series, and become the first Indians to win a gold at the Asian games.

Chirag and Satwik, who became world No 1 last year, would be aiming for an Olympic medal in Paris, having all but sealed qualification for the global showpiece later this year by virtue of being world No 2.

A total of 26 sports personalities received the Arjuna Awards, the second-highest sporting honour in India, honouring their sporting prowess, leadership, and discipline over the last four years.

The 26 awardees are:

1. Ojas Pravin Deotale – Archery
2. Aditi Gopichand Swami – Archery
3. Murali Sreeshankar – Athletics
4. Parul Chaudhary – Athletics
5. Mohammad Hussamuddin – Boxing
6. Vaishali Rameshbabu – Chess
7. Mohammed Shami – Cricket
8. Anush Agarwalla – Equestrian
9. Divyakriti Singh – Equestrian Dressage
10. Diksha Dagar – Golf
11. Krishan Bahadur Pathak – Hockey
12. Pukhrambam Sushila Chanu – Hockey
13. Pawan Kumar – Kabaddi
14. Ritu Negi – Kabaddi
15. Nasreen Shaikh – Kho-Kho
16. Pinki Singh – Lawn Bowls
17. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar – Shooting
18. Esha Singh – Shooting
19. Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu – Squash
20. Ayhika Mukherjee – Table Tennis
21. Sushil Kumar – Wrestling
22. Antim Panghal – Wrestling
23. Naorem Roshibina Devi – Wushu
24. Sheetal Devi – Para Archery
25. Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy – Blind Cricket
26. Prachi Yadav – Para Canoeing

Also Read: Vinesh Phogat joins fellow wrestlers; returns Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award

Dronacharya Award

The Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games recognises coaching excellence and pays homage to coaches who have guided athletes to international success. It was awarded to eight individuals across two categories — regular and lifetime.

The awardees are:

Regular Category:

1. Lalit Kumar – Wrestling
2. RB Ramesh – Chess
3. Mahaveer Prasad Saini – Para Athletics
4. Shivendra Singh – Hockey
5. Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar – Mallakhamb

Lifetime Category:

1. Jaskirat Singh Grewal – Golf
2. Bhaskaran Edachery – Kabaddi
3. Jayanta Kumar Pushilal – Table Tennis

Also Read: Won’t recognise events organised by suspended WFI: Sports Ministry

Dhyan Chand Award

The Dhyan Chand Award For Lifetime Achievement Sports And Games honours distinguished sportspersons who leave a lasting impact on Indian sports. It was awarded to three individuals this year.

The awardees are:

1. Manjusha Kanwar – Badminton
2. Vineet Kumar Sharma – Hockey
3. Kavitha Selvaraj – Kabaddi

The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy acknowledges universities fostering athletic excellence at the collegiate level.

The awardees are (University category):

1. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar – Overall winner university
2. Lovely Professional University, Punjab – 1st runner-up University
3. Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra – 2nd runner-up University

Chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice AM Khanwilkar, a thorough selection process ensures the acknowledgment of deserving talent across all sports.

(With PTI inputs)