Manu Bhaker to receive Khel Ratna along with D Gukesh and two others, confirms Sports Ministry

The drama surrounding Manu Bhaker’s nomination for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award came to an end on Thursday after the double Olympic gold medallist was among four athletes finalised for the prestigious award along with chess sensation D Gukesh, who had recently been crowned world champion. Besides Bhaker and Gukesh, India men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Praveen Kumar are the others who have been nominated for the highest sporting honour in the country.

Besides the four Khel Ratna nominees, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports also unveiled 32 nominees for the Arjuna Awards, including 17 para-athletes.

There had been a major furore over Bhaker's perceived exclusion from the nominees' list for the Khel Ratna Award after the pistol shooter made history in the Paris Olympics by winning two bronze medals in three events – becoming the first Indian post-Independence to win more than one medal in the same edition of the Olympics.

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While Bhaker questioned whether she was worthy of the award or not in a post on X that she quickly deleted afterwards, her father expressed regret at introducing her to the sport of shooting. Her coach Jaspal Rana too was furious with her alleged snub.

Bhaker, however, would later admit that there might have been a "lapse on her part" while filing for the nominaton, while the Sports Ministry had clarified they had not finalised names for the award at that point.

Also Read | Explained: How athletes are selected for Khel Ratna Award

Gukesh, meanwhile, made history in Singapore last month after defeating China’s Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 to become the youngest world champion in chess history and only the second after the legendary Viswanathan Anand. He was also the youngest champion in the history of the Candidates Tournament in April and had played a key role in the Indian Open team bulldozing their way to gold in the 45th Chess Olympiad in September.

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Harmanpreet, meanwhile had played a central role in helping India win a second consecutive Olympic bronze medal – marking the first time the nation had won back-to-back medals in the sport in more than 50 years.

The 28-year-old drag-flick expert finished as the leading goal-scorer in the tournament with a total of 10 strikes. He would then go on to help India win the Asian Champions Trophy for the second consecutive time, his team defeating hosts China 1-0 in the final.

Praveen, meanwhile, upgraded his silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics to gold in the Paris Games in September in the high-jump T64 category – a classification for para-athletes who have one or both legs missing below the knee and rely on a prosthetic leg for running.

“The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 17th January, 2025 (Friday) at 1100 hours,” read a release from the Mansukh Mandaviya-led Sports Ministry.

List of 2024 National Sports Awardees

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna: Gukesh D (Chess), Harmanpreet Singh (Hockey), Praveen Kumar (Para-Athletics), Manu Bhakar (Shooting).

Arjuna Award: Jyothi Yarraji (Athletics) Annu Rani (Athletics) Nitu (Boxing) Saweety (Boxing) Vantika Agrawal (Chess) Salima Tete (Hockey) Abhishek (Hockey) Sanjay (Hockey) Jarmanpreet Singh (Hockey) Sukhjeet Singh (Hockey) Rakesh Kumar (Para-Archery) Preeti Pal (Para-Athletics) Jeevanji Deepthi (Para-Athletics) Ajeet Singh (Para-Athletics) Sachin Sarjerao Khilari (Para-Athletics) Dharambir (Para-Athletics) Pranav Soorma (Para-Athletics) H Hokato Sema (Para-Athletics) Simran (Para-Athletics) Navdeep (Para-Athletics) Nitesh Kumar (Para-Badminton) Thulasimathi Murugesan (Para-Athletics) Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan (Para-Badminton) Manisha Ramadass (Para-Badminton) Kapil Parmar (Para-Judo) Mona Agarwal (Para-Shooting) Rubina Francis (Para-Shooting) Swapnil Suresh Kusale (Shooting) Sarabjot Singh (Shooting) Abhay Singh (Squash) Sajan Prakash (Swimming) Aman Sehrawat (Wrestling).

Arjuna Award (lifetime): Sucha Singh (Athletics) Murlikant Rajaram Petkar (Para-Swimming).

Dronacharya Award (regular): Subhash Rana (Para-Shooting) Deepali Deshpande (Shooting) Sandeep Sangwan (Hockey).

Dronacharya Award (lifetime): S Muralidharan (Badminton), Armando Agnelo Colaco (Football).