Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag, Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik and hockey stalwart Sardar Singh were on Friday included in a 12-member committee constituted by the sports ministry to select this year's National Sports Awards winners. Just like last year, the ministry opted for a single selection committee to pick the awardees among both athletes and coaches and it will be headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice, Mukundakam Sharma.
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The process to pick this year's national sports awards has been delayed because of the nation-wide lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic and the applications will be invited next month, a Sports Ministry official said. The ministry generally invites the nominations for the awards in April while the ceremony to confer them is held on August 29 on the occasion of National Sports Day celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand.
The Wrestling Federation of India unveiled a new selection policy that makes attendance at national camps mandatory to be eligible for national selection, bars wrestlers from training independently and mandates Olympic Games quota-winning athletes to appear in a final one-bout selection trial.
Hockey star Hardik Singh lone recommendation for Khel Ratna; Divya, TJ & Mehuli for Arjuna
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has invited bids for the commercial rights of men's and women's club competitions, offering two packages for a minimum of 15 years starting from the 2026-2027 season.
The All-India Football Federation has formed a three-member committee, headed by former judge Justice L Nageswara Rao, to oversee the entire tender process for selecting its new commercial partner, as per a directive from the Supreme Court.
Manu Bhaker has been shockingly ignored for this year's Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, a top sports ministry source has asserted
Indian Olympic Association president P T Usha is confident about securing the hosting rights of the 2030 Centenary Commonwealth Games during the Commonwealth Sport General Assembly in Glasgow on November 26.
Manu Bhaker on Tuesday admitted that "there has been a lapse may be on my part" while filing nominations
The year began on an unusually dull note with boxers absent from most international competition in the aftermath of a medal-less Olympic campaign.
The Sports Ministry confirmed on Thursday that it will stick to the original list of winners for the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards, thereby dashing discus thrower Krishna Poonia's hopes of being conferred the country's highest sporting honour.
Bhaker said the award selection panel would have followed due processes but sometimes errors can happen.
Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline, shuns populist measures despite five key state elections coming up, but ends up rattling stock markets with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading.
Jaspal Rana questions Sports Ministry, NRAI for ignoring Manu's credentials for Khel Ratna
Sprint legend P T Usha was on Thursday named chairperson of the selection committee for this year's national sports awards, while hockey icon Ashok Kumar was appointed head of the panel to pick the Dronacharya awardees. The 17-member panel to select the winners of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dhyan Chand awards also includes tennis ace Leander Paes and Olympic bronze medallist weightlifter Karnam Malleswari.
Former sprint queen P T Usha, who was named chairperson of the selection committee for this year's National sports Awards, on Thursday expressed happiness on being chosen to head the panel.
Rohit Yadav clinched the javelin throw gold medal at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships to keep himself in contention for a berth in the World Championships in Tokyo.
Jamil will succeed Spaniard Manolo Marquez, who parted ways with the AIFF last month following India's recent struggles.
Shooter Manu Bhaker won two bronze medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics while Gukesh was crowned the World Chess Champion in Singapore, last month.
Amidst controversies, the National Sports Awards were presented by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday.
Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are in contention for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
Bhupinder Singh Bajwa will be the chairman of the panel with hockey Olympian M M Somaya and former international shuttler Manjusha Kanwar being the other two members.
Ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh, India's women's cricket captain Jhulan Goswami and boxer Dinesh Kumar are among the top sportspersons nominated for the Arjuna award, in recognition of their outstanding achievements during the last year. The National sports awards (Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dhyan Chand) selection committee, headed by P T Usha, met in Delhi on Friday and finalised the list of awardees.
Now boxer Manoj Kumar, a World Championships quarter-finalist, also a two-time Asian Championships bronze-medallist is seeking an appointment with Sports Minister Jitendra Singh, saying he was ignored for the Arjuna despite fine performances.
An unprecedented 11 athletes were selected for the country's highest sporting honour.
Former chief national wrestling coach Vinod Kumar expressed relief and contentment over Delhi High Court's directive to the Centre to confer him with the Dronacharya award.
Bajrang Punia had won gold medals at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games last year.
India's limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma, star wrestler Vinesh Phogat, TT player Manika Batra and Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu were on Tuesday picked for this year's Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award by the sports ministry's selection committee.
India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal will be conferred the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the country's highest sports honour.
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday came hard on Hockey India for unilaterally deciding to pull out of next year's Commonwealth Games, saying the national federation is bound to consult with the government before taking any such step.
Mary Kom said she merely left it on the federation and did not pressurise it to rule in her favour.
India will go unrepresented in five categories at the upcoming Zagreb Open in Croatia as Bajrang Punia, Antim Panghal and three others didn't give consent for their selection to the ad-hoc panel that announced a 13-member team on Tuesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
In a letter to the Minister, Amit Panghal, who became India's first male boxer to win a world championship silver last year, said that athletes should not have to plead their case for an award by nominating themselves.
Both Balaji and Bhambri have got some decent results on clay in lead up to the Roland Garros, where the action will unfold during the Summer Olympics from July 27.
The ad-hoc panel announced that it will host the senior national championships in Jaipur from February 2-5.
Chirag and Satwik had a successful 2019, when the duo won a maiden Super 500 title at Thailand Open and then reached the finals of the French Open Super 750 event. Their consistent show was rewarded with a world No. 10 spot.
For the Dronacharya awards, the BFI has finalised the names of national women's coach Mohammed Ali Qamar and assistant coach Chhote Lal Yadav.
In an unprecedented move, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting award, will be conferred on four athletes this year. The Sports Ministry announced on Monday that Olympic medalists P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik will be honoured alongside trail-blazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar and ace shooter Jitu Rai.
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