 "D Gukesh promises to continue delivering 'best moves on 64 squares and outside' after being nominated for Khel Ratna")
After an extraordinary run in 2024 in which he became the youngest champion in the history of the Candidates Tournament as well as the World Chess Championship and also starred in India’s historic Olympiad campaign, the new year began on a positive note for D Gukesh.
The 18-year-old, after all, was named as one of the four recipients of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award – the highest sporting honour in the country – in recognition for his heroics in 2024 as well as for dislodging the legendary Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian played after a period of 37 years in August last year.
Reacting to the development, Gukesh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he had met in New Delhi last month and had gifted a signed chess board on which he had won the World Championship in Singapore, as well as Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
In a post on X, Gukesh promised to continue delivering his best “on 64 squares and outside of it”.
“Honourable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, I am truly grateful and feel humbled to receive the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. Your words and guidance have always inspired me to strive for excellence and make the nation proud,” Gukesh wrote on X.
“I promise to continue delivering my best moves on 64 squares and outside of it. Thank you Hon. Sports Minister @mansukhmandviya Ji for your constant support.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHonourable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, I am truly grateful and feel humbled to receive the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. Your words and guidance have always inspired me to strive for excellence and make the nation proud. I promise to continue… pic.twitter.com/hBdpUlroiI
— Gukesh D (@DGukesh) January 2, 2025
Besides Gukesh, pistol shooter Manu Bhaker, Indian men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and para-high jumper Praveen Kumar were included in the list of Khel Ratna awardees. The remaining three nominees had shone brightly in the Paris last year.
While Bhaker made history by becoming the first Indian post-Independence to win multiple medals in the same edition of the Olympics, Harmanpreet finished as the leading goal-scorer in the men’s hockey event, helping India win a second consecutive bronze – the first time the nation had won back-to-back Olympic medals in the sport since Munich 1972.
Praveen would then upgrade the silver that he had won in Tokyo to gold in Paris in the high-jump T64 category in the Paralympics in September.
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