Manu Bhaker, D Gukesh receive Khel Ratna award from President Droupadi Murmu
NEW DELHI,JAN 17 : Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and world chess champion D. Gukesh were conferred with the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awards by President Droupadi Murmu on Friday, 17 January. The star athletes received a rousing reception from those present at the National Sports Day ceremony, held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
India men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and Praveen Kumar, who clinched a gold medal in the high jump at the Paris Paralympics, were also honoured with the award by the President.
Manu Bhaker and D. Gukesh were among four athletes to receive the nation’s highest sporting honour this year. Manu secured two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics, making history as the first athlete from independent India to win more than one individual medal in a single edition of the Games. Overcoming the disappointment of her previous Olympics performance, she bounced back strongly to deliver a historic achievement in Paris.
D Gukesh became the youngest man to win the world chess championship. The 19-year-old from Chennai defeated Ding Liren in the World Championship match in Singapore last year to become only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the top prize in classical chess.
As many as 32 athletes received the Arjuna Award, the second-highest sporting honour in India. For the first time, para-athletes outnumbered able-bodied athletes after their sensational show in the Paralympics in Paris.
India finished a respectable 18th in the Paris Paralympics medal table, winning 29 medals, including seven gold medals.
Olympic medalists Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale were also amongst the athletes who received the Arjuna Award.
The lead-up to the National Sports Day was not without controversies as Manu Bhaker was reportedly omitted from a preliminary list of nominees.
The shooter’s father and coach, Jaspal Rana, expressed their disappointment over the oversight, criticising the sporting authorities for not nominating her after her achievements in the Olympic year. Manu’s father, Ram Kishan Bhaker, even remarked that he should have made his daughter a cricketer instead of a shooter.
However, Manu Bhaker played down the incident, suggesting an oversight from her part when applying for the sports award. She stressed that she did not take up the sport to win awards, but to bring laurels to the nation.
“Regarding the ongoing issue with my nomination for the prestigious Khel Ratna award, I would like to state that, as an athlete, my role is to play and perform for my country. I believe there has been a lapse, possibly on my part, while filing for the nomination, which is being corrected,” Manu said in a post on Instagram.
-PTI
