National Sports Awards 2023: Presented by President Droupadi Murmu

National Sports Awards 2023 were presented by President Droupadi Murmu in a program organized at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 9 January 2024.

Key Points:

• The National Sports Awards 2023 winners were announced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 20 December 2023.
• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award-2023 was given to Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty (Badminton) and Rankireddy Satwik Sai Raj (Badminton).
• 26 sports persons were awarded the Arjuna Award for their outstanding performance in sports and games.
• This year, many applications or nominations were received for these awards, presented by retired Justice A.M Khanwilkar. 
• Khanwilkar heads the selection committee.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award-2023 Winner -

• 1. Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty (Badminton)
• 2. Sri Rankireddy Satwik Sai Raj (Badminton)

Arjuna Award-2023 Winners -

• 1. Ojas Pravin Deotale (Archery)
• 2. Ms. Aditi Gopichand Swami (Archery)
• 3. Sri Sreeshankar M (Athletics)
• 4. Ms Parul Chaudhary (Athletics)
• 5. Shri Mohammad Hussamuddin (Boxing)
• 6. Ms. R. Vaishali (Chess)
• 7. Shri Mohammed Shami (Cricket)
• 8. Shri Anush Agarwalla (Equestrian)
• 9. Ms. Divyakriti Singh (Equestrian Dressage)
• 10. Ms. Diksha Dagar (Golf)
• 11. Shri Krishna Bahadur Pathak (hockey)
• 12. Ms. Pukhrambam Sushila Chanu (Hockey)
• 13. Shri Pawan Kumar Sehrawat (Kabaddi)
• 14. Ms. Ritu Negi (Kabaddi)
• 15. Ms. Nasreen Shaikh (Kho-Kho)
• 16. Ms. Pinky Singh (Lawn Balls)
• 17. Shri Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar (Shooting)
• 18. Ms. Isha Singh (Shooting)
• 19. Shri Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (Squash)
• 20. Ms. Ayhika Mukherjee (Table Tennis)
• 21. Shri Sunil Kumar (Wrestling)
• 22. Ms. Antim Panghal (wrestling)
• 23. Ms. Naorem Roshibina Devi (Wushu)
• 24. Ms Sheetal Devi (Para Archery)
• 25. Sri Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (Blind Cricket)
• 26. Ms Prachi Yadav (Para Canoeing)

Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Trainers-2023 (Regular Category) Winners:

• 1. Lalit Kumar (Wrestling)
• 2.  R.B. Ramesh (chess)
• 3. Mahavir Prasad Saini (Para Athletics)
• 4. Shivendra Singh (Hockey)
• 5. Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar (Malkhamb)

Dronacharya Award-2023 (Lifetime Category) Winner:

• 1. Jaskirat Singh Grewal (Golf)
• 2. Bhaskaran E (Kabaddi)
• 3. Jayant Kumar Pushilal (Table Tennis)

Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement 2023 Winners:

• 1. Manjusha Kanwar (Badminton)
• 2. Vineet Kumar Sharma (Hockey)
• 3. Kavitha Selvaraj (Kabaddi)

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy 2023:

• Overall Top Performance Winner’s University – Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
• 1st Runner-Up University – Lovely Professional University, Punjab

National Sports Promotion Award 2023:

• 1. Identification and Nurturing of Budding/Young Talent – Jain Deemed University, Bengaluru
• 2. Promotion of Sports through Corporate Social Responsibility – Odisha Mining Corporate Limited

Important information related to the National Sports Awards:

• These awards are given yearly to recognize and reward excellence in sports.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award:

• The Khel Ratna Award was instituted in 1991–1992.
• Its first recipient is chess legend Vishwanathan Anand.
• It was formerly known as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
• It is given for brilliant and outstanding performance by a sportsperson in the field of sports over a period of the last four years.
• It carries a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, a medal and a certificate of honour.
• It is the highest sports award given by the Sports Ministry.

Arjuna Award:

• It was established in 1961 to recognize outstanding achievements in national sporting events.
• It is given for good performance over a period of the last four years and showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
• This award carries a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh, a bronze statue of Arjun and a certificate of appreciation.

Dronacharya Award:

• It was established in 1985 by the Government of India to recognize excellence in sports related training.
• It is given to coaches for doing excellent and commendable work and enabling players to excel in international events.
• It carries a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh, a bronze statue of Dronacharya and a certificate of appreciation.

Dhyan Chand Award:

• It was established in 2002.
• It is given to honour sportspersons who have contributed to sports through their performances and who continue to contribute to the promotion of sporting events even after their retirement.
• This includes a statue of Dhyan Chand, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, a certificate and a ceremonial dress.

Abul Kalam Azad Trophy:

• It was established in the year 1956-1957.
• This is for university level sports performance.
• It is given to a university for its "top performance in inter-university tournaments" over a period of one year.

National Sports Promotion Award:

• It is awarded to corporate entities (both private and public sector), sports control boards, NGOs, including sports bodies at the state and national level, who have played a significant role in the field of sports promotion and development.