National Sports Awards: Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy earn Khel Ratna, Mohammed Shami honoured with Arjuna Award

India’s best-performing athletes were honoured by President Droupadi Murmu with the National Sports Awards in a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday (9 January). Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, men’s doubles badminton pairing, were bestowed the Khel Ratna, the biggest prize in the country, but were forced to skip the ceremony. Cricketer Mohammed Shami received a massive ovation as he stepped up to take the Arjuna Award. Shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had a breakout 2023 season during which they won their maiden Asian Games gold medal — a first for India in badminton — while also clinching the Asian Championships title and the Indonesia Open Super 1000 title. They also climbed to top of the charts - another first for Indian badminton. The duo are currently playing in Malaysia Open Super 1000 and were forced to skip the function. Read | Satwik-Chirag hope Khel Ratna Award 'spurs them to achieve even greater heights' The awards ceremony, usually held on 29 August to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, was deferred to this year on account of the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. 26 athletes and para-athletes were conferred the Arjuna Awards. Cricketer Shami, who is currently nursing an ankle injury, was there to receive the honour. His last assignment was the ODI World Cup where he emerged as the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps.

President Droupadi Murmu presents the Arjuna Award 2023 to Mohammad Shami for his excellent performance.#NationalSportsAwards2023 @MdShami11 pic.twitter.com/m0NHOnvdG8

— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) January 9, 2024

A huge round of applause was also bestowed upon newly-crowned chess Grandmaster R. Vaishali, the elder sister of chess talent R. Praggnanandhaa. Vaishali was honoured for becoming the third woman from the country after Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika to turn GM. Shooter Esha Singh, 19, was among the notable absentees as she is competing in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta. She booked a Paris Olympics quota for the country after winning the individual and team gold in 10m air pistol events.

President Droupadi Murmu presents the Arjuna Award 2023 to Sheetal Devi for her excellent performance in Para Archery.#NationalSportsAwards2023 @Sheetal_archery pic.twitter.com/SFSSy8vv99

— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) January 9, 2024

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Other sporting biggies who were chosen for the Arjuna Award were wrestler Antim Panghal, a former junior world champion and bronze-winner at the senior event last year, boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin (bronze-winner at last year’s world championship), and para archer Sheetal Devi. Devi, who won two gold medals in the Hangzhou Asian Games, is the first international para archer without upper limbs due to a rare condition called Phocomelia. Among the notable Dronacharya awardees this year is chess coach RB Ramesh, who has groomed Praggnanandhaa. While the Khel Ratna comes with a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, the Arjuna and Dronacharya awards include a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh. 2023 National Sports Awards winners

President Droupadi Murmu presents National Sports Awards 2023 at Rashtrapati Bhavan!

LIVE here 📲 https://t.co/wnPUZ8Yunn#NationalSportsAwards2023 pic.twitter.com/xDsQ0J7mUX

— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) January 9, 2024

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for 2023: Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (badminton). Arjuna Awards: Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Murali Sreeshankar (athletics), Parul Chaudhary (athletics), Mohammad Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Mohammed Shami (cricket), Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Divyakriti Singh (equestrian dressage), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (hockey), Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pawan Kumar (kabaddi), Ritu Negi (kabaddi), Nasreen (kho-kho), Pinki (lawn bowls), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Esha Singh (shooting), Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (squash), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis), Sunil Kumar (wrestling), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Naorem Roshibina Devi (wushu), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (blind cricket), Prachi Yadav (para canoeing). [caption id=“attachment_13592652” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] President Droupadi Murmu presents Arjuna Award to para-archer Sheetal Devi during the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2023 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. PTI[/caption] Dronacharya Award (regular category) for outstanding coaches: Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Mahaveer Prasad Saini (para athletics), Shivendra Singh (hockey), Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar (mallakhamb). Dronacharya Award (life-time category) for outstanding coaches: Jaskirat Singh Grewal (golf), Bhaskaran E (kabaddi), Jayanta Kumar Pushilal (table tennis). Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement: Manjusha Kanwar (badminton), Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey), Kavitha Selvaraj (kabaddi). Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (overall winner university); Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runner -up), Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runner-up).