Ace Indian shooter Gagan Narang, who won four gold medals at last year's Commonwealth Games, is set to be conferred the country's highest sporting honour -- the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- after being recommended for the honour by the awards selection committee on Friday.
The BCCI this year hasn't forwarded any name for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest honour for active sportspersons in the country, since the Indian cricket board didn't find any fitting cricketer for the award.
Former India cricket captain Rav Shastri rejected criticism for not attending the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards committee meeting, saying that he was never informed by the Sports Ministry about it.
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.
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 all-England badminton champion Pullela Gopichand has been honoured with all major sports awards - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dronacharya. His experience taught him a lot and today, he coaches badminton champ Saina Nehwal. Gopichand tells Urmila Rao of Careers 360, how his career took shape.
Images from the Arjuna Awards presentation at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday.
Moved by the overwhelming support of his fans, Indian ace shooter Gagan Narang said he has got back his motivation and would participate in the October 3-14 Commonwealth Games.
For the first time, three top sportspersons -- boxers M C Mary Kom and Vijender Singh, and wrestler Sushil Kumar -- were selected for the country's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. While the prestigious award was previously shared by two sportspersons in 1996-97 and 2002-03, Wednesday marked the first time that three were picked for the coveted honour for outstanding performances in 2008-09.
Embarrassed by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's failure to turn up for the Padma Shri awards last Wednesday, the government issued a notification saying National sports awards, like the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dhronacharya and Dhyanchand, will be withdrawn if the recipient is absent from the ceremony without intimation.
Women's cricketer Anju Jain is among the awardees, while none of her popular male counterparts were nominated.
The Rajiv Khel Ratna, India's highest sports honour, will not be shared in future, except in the case of Olympic medal winners, the Sports Ministry said on Wednesday.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and star off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will get special honours during the annual BCCI Awards Ceremony scheduled in Mumbai on February 18.
Four-time world champion women boxer MC Mary Kom is miffed at the poor accommodation provided by the organisers of the ongoing 10th Senior Women's National Boxing championship at J R D Tata sports complex in Jamshedpur.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni became only the second cricketer, a decade after Sachin Tendulkar, to be conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour, at a glittering function at Rashtrapati Bhawan, Delhi, on Friday. India's ODI captain could not attend the function as he was leading the team in the fifth and final One-Day International against Sri Lanka in Colombo. His father Paan Singh received the award on his behalf.
India's one-day and Twenty20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Monday chosen for the Raviv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest honour for a sportsperson.
Olympic heroes boxer Vijender Singh, wrestler Sushil Kumar, along with four-time world champion woman pugilist M C Mary Kom, were on Saturday conferred the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in a glittering ceremony in New Delhi. For the first time in the history of national sports awards, three sportspersons were individually bestowed India's highest sporting honour, which comes with an enhanced cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh and a newly-designed statuette.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal's name for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sports honour, was approved by the government, which announced the list of all the Arjuna and other award winners for the year 2010.
The Cricket Board has recommended India's ODI and Twenty20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest honour for any sportsperson in the country.
Not a man for diplomatic circumlocution, wrestler Sushil Kumar on Wednesday said it would have been injustice if he was denied the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award even after winning the bronze medal in Beijing Olympics.
The Government of India has hiked the prize-money for its annual sporting honours, including the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna award. The Khel Ratna recipient will now receive Rs 750,000, Rs 250,000 more than previously awarded.
Fifteen other top sportspersons, including woman shuttler Aparna Popat and shooter Gagan Narang were presented the Arjuna award.
The BCCI has also recommended Yuvraj Singh and former women's captain Anjum Chopra for Arjuna awards.
The champion woman pugilist's nomination was sent hours before the deadline for submitting the same.
The Indian Cricket board has recommended former Test skipper Chandu Borde's name for the prestigious Dhyan Chand award.
The 30-year-old world champion trap shooter was bestowed with the country's highest sports award.
Chess ace P Harikrishna and shuttler Chetan Anand were among 14 others to receive Arjuna awards.
The list of 14 Arjuna award winners releases on Wednesday did not include a single men's cricketer.
BCCI wrote to the Union Sports Ministry recommending the names of Ganguly and his deputy Rahul Dravid for outstanding performance in 2004.
Twenty-one sportspersons, including cricketer Virender Sehwag, footballer I M Vijayan and hockey player Gagan Ajit Singh, have been named for the Arjuna awards 2002.
The ace cueist said more than the wins it were the defeats that helped him become a better player.
Anju Bobby George and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore were awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna award respectively.
Ferreira will head the committee for the Dronacharya Award, Ahluwalia be in charge of the one that will select sportspersons for the Arjuna and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awards.
Beenamol edged out ace shooter Anjali Bhagwat who was initially in the running.
Sports Minister Vikram Verma said old policies will be followed while electing sportspersons for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards.
Pankaj Advani's India 'A' team went down crashing 2-7 to England at the World Snooker Team Championship.
The BCCI has also put forward the names of Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh for the Arjuna Award.
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