Achanta Sharath Kamal to be honoured with prestigious Khel Ratna award

Table Tennis legend and Commonwealth Games medalist Achanta Sharath Kamal has been awarded with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022, the highest sporting honour in the country, announced the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Monday. As per a press release from the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, the National Sports Awards 2022 were announced. The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 30 November, 2022 (Wednesday) at 1600 hrs. Based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, Government has decided to confer awards upon the following sportspersons, coaches and entities: *Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022 -Sharath Kamal Achanta (Table Tennis) *Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2022 -Seema Punia (Athletics), Eldhose Paul (Athletics), Avinash Mukund Sable (Athletics), Lakshya Sen (Badminton), Prannoy HS (Badminton), Amit (Boxing), Nikhat Zareen (Boxing), Bhakti Pradip Kulkarni (Chess), R Praggnanandhaa (Chess), Deep Grace Ekka (Hockey), Shushila Devi (Judo), Sakshi Kumari (Kabaddi), Nayan Moni Saikia (Lawn Bowl), Sagar Kailas Ovhalkar (Mallakhamb), Elavenil Valarivan (Shooting), Omprakash Mitharval (Shooting), Sreeja Akula (Table Tennis), Vikas Thakur (Weightlifting), Anshu (Wrestling), Sarita (Wrestling), Parveen (Wushu), Manasi Girishchandra Joshi (Para Badminton), Tarun Dhillon (Para Badminton), Swapnil Sanjay Patil (Para Swimming), Jerlin Anika J (Deaf Badminton). *Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games 2022 A). Regular Category Jiwanjot Singh Teja (Archery), Mohammad Ali Qamar (Boxing), Suma Siddharth Shirur (Para Shooting), Sujeet Maan (Wrestling). B). Lifetime Category - Dinesh Jawahar Lad (Cricket), Bimal Prafulla Ghosh (Football), Raj Singh (Wrestling) *Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement in Sports and Games 2022 -Ashwini Akkunji C (Athletics), Dharamvir Singh (Hockey), BC Suresh (Kabaddi), Nir Bahadur Gurung (Para Athletics) *Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2022 -Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent (TransStadia Enterprises Private Limited), Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility (Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology), Sports for Development (Ladakh Ski & Snowboard Association) *Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2022: -Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar National Sports Awards are given every year to recognise 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. ‘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. ‘Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement in Sports and Games’ is given to honour sportspersons who have contributed to sports by their performance and who continue to contribute to the promotion of sports event after their retirement. ‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar’ is given to corporate entities (both in private and public sector), Sports Control Boards, NGOs, including sports bodies at the State and National level, who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development. The overall top-performing university in inter-university tournaments is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy. This year, for the first time, applications were invited only online and sportspersons/coaches/entities were permitted to self-apply through a dedicated portal. A large number of nominations were received for these awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committee headed by Justice A. M. Khanwilkar, Retd. Judge, Supreme Court of India and consisting members from eminent sportspersons, persons having experience in sports journalism and sports administrators.