February 20, 2026

Khel Ratna Award

The Indian government has announced the recipients of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024.

  • Manu Bhaker (shooting), Harmanpreet Singh (hockey), Praveen Kumar (para-athletics), and D Gukesh (chess) have been honored for their exceptional achievements.
  • Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and Paralympian Praveen Kumar will also receive the Khel Ratna Award from the President of India,
  • 32 athletes will receive the Arjuna Award, and Dhronacharya Award for three coaches.
  • National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.
  • ‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’ is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over the period of the previous four years.
  • ‘Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games’ is given for good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
  • Arjuna Award (Lifetime) is given to honour and motivate those sportspersons who have contributed to sports by their performance and continue to contribute to promotion of sports even after their retirement from active sporting career.
  • ‘Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games’ is given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and for enabling sportspersons to excel in International events.
  • The overall top performing university in Khelo India University Games is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.

 

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

S. No.Name of the SportspersonDiscipline
1.Shri Gukesh DChess
2.Shri Harmanpreet SinghHockey
3.Shri Praveen KumarPara-Athletics
4.Ms. Manu BhakerShooting

 

Arjuna Award

S. No.Name of the SportspersonDiscipline
      1.Ms. Jyothi YarrajiAthletics
      2.Ms. Annu RaniAthletics
      3.Ms. NituBoxing
      4.Ms. SaweetyBoxing
      5.Ms. Vantika AgrawalChess
      6.Ms. Salima TeteHockey
      7.Shri AbhishekHockey
      8.Shri SanjayHockey
      9.Shri Jarmanpreet SinghHockey
  10.Shri Sukhjeet SinghHockey
  11.Shri Rakesh KumarPara-Archery
  12.Ms. Preeti PalPara-Athletics
  13.Ms. Jeevanji DeepthiPara-Athletics
  14.Shri Ajeet SinghPara-Athletics
  15.Shri Sachin Sarjerao KhilariPara-Athletics
  16.Shri DharambirPara-Athletics
  17.Shri Pranav SoormaPara-Athletics
  18.Shri H Hokato SemaPara-Athletics
  19.Ms. SimranPara-Athletics
  20.Shri NavdeepPara-Athletics
  21.Shri Nitesh KumarPara-Badminton
  22.Ms. Thulasimathi MurugesanPara-Badminton
  23.Ms. Nithya Sre Sumathy SivanPara-Badminton
  24.Ms. Manisha RamadassPara-Badminton
  25.Shri Kapil ParmarPara-Judo
  26.Ms. Mona AgarwalPara-Shooting
  27.Ms. Rubina FrancisPara-Shooting
  28.Shri Swapnil Suresh KusaleShooting
  29.Shri Sarabjot SinghShooting
  30.Shri Abhay SinghSquash
  31.Shri Sajan PrakashSwimming
  32.Shri AmanWrestling

 

 

Arjuna Awards (Lifetime)

S. No.Name of the SportspersonDiscipline
1.Shri Sucha SinghAthletics
2.Shri Murlikant Rajaram PetkarPara-Swimming

 

Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games 2024

 

  1. Regular Category:
S. No.Name of the CoachDiscipline
Shri Subhash RanaPara-Shooting
Ms. Deepali DeshpandeShooting
Shri Sandeep SangwanHockey

 

  1. Lifetime Category:
S. No.Name of the CoachDiscipline
Shri S MuralidharanBadminton
Shri Armando Agnelo ColacoFootball

 

  1. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar
S. No.Name of the Entity
Physical Education Foundation of India

 

  1. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024: 
S. No.Name of University
1Chandigarh UniversityOverall winner University
2Lovely Professional University, (PB)1st runner up University
3Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar2nd runner up University

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