National Sports Awards -2019 announced

National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four year, Arjuna Award is given for consistently outstanding performance for four years, Dronacharya Award for coaches is given for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events.Dhyan Chand Award for life time contribution to sports development and Rashtriya Khel ProtsahanPuruskar are 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. Overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments is given MaulanaAbulKalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.

A large number of nominations were received for these awards this year (2019), which were considered by the Selection Committees consisting of former Arjuna Awardees, Dronacharya Awardees, Sport Journalists/Experts/Commentators and Sports Administrators. Selection Committee for the Sports Awards 2019 was headed by Justice Mukundakam Sharma, Retired Judge, Supreme Court.

Based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, the Government has decided to confer awards upon the following sportspersons, coaches, entities and university:

(A) RAJIV GANDHI KHEL RATNA AWARD

S.No.	Name of the Sportsperson	Discipline
1.	Sh. Bajrang Punia	Wrestling
2.	Ms. Deepa Malik	Para Athletics

(B) DRONACHARYA AWARD

Regular Category

S.No.	Name of the Coach	Discipline
1.	Sh. Vimal Kumar	Badminton
2.	Sh. Sandeep Gupta	Table tennis
3.	Sh. Mohinder Singh Dhillon	Athletics

Life-Time Category

S.No.	Name of the Coach	Discipline
1.	Sh. Merzban Patel	Hockey
2.	Sh. Rambir Singh Khokhar	Kabaddi
3.	Sh. Sanjay Bhardwaj	Cricket

(C) ARJUNA AWARD

S.No.	Name of the Sportsperson	Discipline
1.	Sh. Tajinderpal Singh Toor	Athletics
2.	Mohammed Anas Yahiya	Athletics
3.	Sh. S. Bhaskaran	Body Building
4.	Ms. Sonia Lather	Boxing
5.	Sh. Ravindra Jadeja	Cricket
6.	Sh. Chinglensana Singh Kangujam	Hockey
7.	Sh. Ajay Thakur	Kabaddi
8.	Sh. Gaurav Singh Gill	Motor Sports
9.	Sh. Pramod Bhagat	Para Sports (Badminton)
10.	Ms. Anjum Moudgil	Shooting
11.	Sh. Harmeet Rajul Desai	Table Tennis
12.	Ms. Pooja Dhanda	Wrestling
13.	Sh. Fouaad Mirza	Equestrian
14.	Sh. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu	Football
15.	Ms. Poonam Yadav	Cricket
16.	Ms. Swapna Barman	Athletics
17.	Sh. Sundar Singh Gurjar	Para Sports  (Athletics)
18.	Sh. Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth	Badminton
19.	Sh. Simran Singh Shergill	Polo

(D) DHYANCHAND AWARD

S.No.	Name	Discipline
	Sh. Manuel Fredricks	Hockey
	Sh. Arup Basak	Table Tennis
	Sh. Manoj Kumar	Wrestling
	Sh. NittenKirrtane	Tennis
	Sh. C. Lalremsanga	Archery

(E) RASHTRIYA KHEL PROTSAHAN PURUSKAR

S. No.	Category	Entity recommended for Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, 2019
1.	Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent’	(i) Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation (ii) GoSports Foundation
2.	Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility	—
3.	‘Employment to sportspersons and other welfare measures’	—
4.	Sports for Development	Rayalaseema Development Trust

(F) MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD (MAKA) TROPHY, 2019:Panjab University, Chandigarh

The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 29^th August, 2019.

Apart from a medal and a citation, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee will receive a cash prize of Rs. 7.5 lakh. Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh each. A trophy and citation is given to the entity in the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, 2019. Recipients of Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar will be given Trophies and certificates. Overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments will be given MAKA Trophy, award money of Rs. 10 lakh and certificate.