President Kovind gives away National Sports awards

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday gave away the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award to former India hockey team captain Sardar Singh and Paralympian javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia at a function at Rashtrapati Bhawan here on the occasion of National Sports Day.

The President also gave away the Dronacharya awards to Late R. Gandhi (athletics), Heera Nand Kataria (kabaddi), G.S.S.V. Prasad (badminton, lifetime), Brij Bhushan Mohanty (boxing, lifetime), P.A. Raphel (hockey, lifetime), Sanjoy Chakraverthy (shooting, lifetime) and Roshan Lal (wrestling, lifetime).

The Arjuna awardees for this year are star athlete Rajiv Arokia, Saketh Myneni (tennis), Jyoti Surekha Vennam (archery), Khushbir Kaur (athletics), Prashanti Singh (basketball), S.V. Sunil (hockey), S.S.P. Chaurasia (golf), Satyavrat Kadian (wrestling), Anthony Amalraj (table tennis), P.N. Prakash (shooting), Jasvir Singh (kabaddi), Laishram Devendro Singh (boxing), Oinam Bembem Devi (football), Harmanpreet Kaur and Cheteshwar Pujara (both cricket) along with Paralympians Mariyappan Thangavelu and Varun Singh Bhati.

Apart from a medal and a citation, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees received a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh while the Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees received statuettes, certificates and cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each.