On August 21, 2020, National Sports Awards 2020 were announced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The awards were recommended by the Selection Committee headed by Justice (Retd.) Mukundakam Sharma (former Judge of Supreme Court of India) and after due scrutiny, the Government has decided to confer awards upon the deserving sportspersons, coaches and entities under various categories.
- The total of 73 awardees in 7 categories will receive their awards from the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind at a specially organized virtual function from Rashtrapati Bhawan on August, 29 2020 i.e. on National Sports Day.
- Notably, this is the first time in the history of National Sports awards that 5 sportsperson named for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and 27 athletes for Arjuna Award.
- Also, 8 para-sports personalities named in the National Sports Awards 2020.
Before heading towards the list of awardees, let’s have look on the 7 categories of national sports awards:
- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: It is given for most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four year.
- Arjuna Award: It recognizes consistent outstanding performance for four years.
- Dronacharya Award: It is awarded to coaches for producing medal winners at International sports events.
- Dhyan Chand Award: It is for lifetime contribution to sports development.
- Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: It is given to the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.
- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy: It is given to the overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments.
- Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award: It recognises the spirit of adventure among the people of the country.
Here is the list of awardees:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award:
Number of Awardees: 5
| Name of the Sportsperson | Discipline |
|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma | Cricket |
| Mariyappan Thangavelu | Para Athletics |
| Manika Batra | Table Tennis |
| Vinesh Phogat | Wrestling |
| Rani Rampal | Hockey |
Points to be noted:
-Rohit Sharma is only the 4th cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar (1st), Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli to be conferred with Khel Ratna Award.
–Vinesh Phogat became the first woman wrestler to win an Asian Games gold medal in 2018.
-Rani became the third hockey player and first female hockey player to be recommended for this award.
Dronacharya Award:
Number of Awardees: 13
Life- Time Category
Number of Awardees: 8
Name of the Coach Discipline Dharmendra Tiwary Archery Purushotham Rai Athletics Shiv Singh Boxing Romesh Pathania Hockey Krishan Kumar Hooda Kabaddi Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar Para Powerlifting Naresh Kumar Tennis Om Parkash Dahiya Wrestling
Regular Category
Number of Awardees: 5
| Name of the Coach | Discipline |
|---|---|
| Jude Felix Sebastian | Hockey |
| Yogesh Malviya | Mallakhamb |
| Jaspal Rana | Shooting |
| Kuldeep Kumar Handoo | Wushu |
| Gaurav Khanna | Para Badminton |
Arjuna Award:
Number of Awardees: 27
| Name of the Sportsperson | Discipline |
|---|---|
| Atanu Das | Archery |
| Dutee Chand | Athletics |
| Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy | Badminton |
| Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty | Badminton |
| Vishesh Bhriguvanshi | Basketball |
| Subedar Manish Kaushik | Boxing |
| Lovlina Borgohain | Boxing |
| Ishant Sharma | Cricket |
| Deepti Sharma | Cricket |
| Sawant Ajay Anant | Equestrian |
| Sandesh Jhingan | Football |
| Aditi Ashok | Golf |
| Akashdeep Singh | Hockey |
| Deepika | Hockey |
| Deepak | Kabaddi |
| Kale Sarika Sudhakar | Kho Kho |
| Dattu Baban Bhokanal | Rowing |
| Manu Bhaker | Shooting |
| Saurabh Chaudhary | Shooting |
| Madhurika Suhas Patkar | Table Tennis |
| Divij Sharan | Tennis |
| Shiva Keshavan | Winter Sports |
| Divya Kakran | Wrestling |
| Rahul Aware | Wrestling |
| Suyash Narayan Jadhav | Para Swimming |
| Sandeep | Para Athletics |
| Manish Narwal | Para Shooting |
Dhyan Chand Award:
Number of Awardees: 15
| Name of the Sportsperson | Discipline |
|---|---|
| Kuldip Singh Bhullar | Athletics |
| Jincy Philips | Athletics |
| Pradeep Shrikrishna Gandhe | Badminton |
| Trupti Murgunde | Badminton |
| Usha Nagisetty | Boxing |
| Lakha Singh | Boxing |
| Sukhvinder Singh Sandhu | Football |
| Ajit Singh | Hockey |
| Manpreet Singh | Kabaddi |
| Ranjith Kumar Jayaseelan | Para Athletics |
| Satyaprakash Tiwari | Para Badminton |
| Manjeet Singh | Rowing |
| Late Shri Sachin Nag | Swimming |
| Nandan P Bal | Tennis |
| Netarpal Hooda | Wrestling |
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards 2019:
Number of Awardees: 8
| Name of the Sportsperson | Category |
|---|---|
| Anita Devi | Land Adventure |
| Col. Sarfraz Singh | Land Adventure |
| Taka Tamut | Land Adventure |
| Narender Singh | Land Adventure |
| Keval Hiren Kakka | Land Adventure |
| Satendra Singh | Water Adventure |
| Wing Commander Gajanand Yadava | Air Adventure |
| Late Shri Magan Bissa | Life Time Achievement |
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Maka) Trophy:
Number of Awardees: 1
| Panjab University, Chandigarh |
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar:
Number of Awardees: 4
| Category | Entity |
|---|---|
| Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent | Lakshya Institute Army Sports Institute |
| Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility | Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd. |
| Employment of sportspersons and sports welfare measures | Air Force Sports Control Board |
| Sports for Development | International Institute of Sports Management (IISM) |
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World Sports Journalists Day is observed annually on July 2 to acknowledge the work of sports journalists & to encourage them to do better at their work. The day was established in 1994 to mark the 70th anniversary of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS). The year 2020 marked the 96th anniversary of AIPS. The 1st AIPS e-Conference was held on July 2, 2020 on the topic ‘’Has covid-19 affected journalists’ independence and future?”
About Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports:
Minister of State-MoS (Independent Charge)– Kiren Rijiju
