Table tennis legend and Commonwealth Games medalist Achanta Sharath Kamal will be awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022 on November 30. Sharath Kamal has also become the first Indian player ever to get elected to the Athletes’ Commission of the International Table Tennis Federation.
Khel Ratna is the highest sporting award in the country. It was announced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Monday.
National Awards 2022 winners were also announced in the press release by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The President will present them with the award at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhawan on November 30, 2022, in the evening.
A total of 25 athletes will receive Arjuna Awards this year. Shuttlers Lakshay Sen, H.S. Prannoy, woman boxer Nikhat Zareen, athletes Eldhose Paul, Avinash Sable, Seema Punia, Grace Ekka, Sushila Devi, Sagar Kailas Ovhalkar, Omprakash Mitharval, Vikas Thakur, and Manasi Girishchandra Joshi are among them.
Eight coaches have been chosen for the Dronacharya Award: Jiwanjot Singh Teja (archery), Mohammad Ali Qamar (boxing), Suma Siddharth Shirur (para shooting), Sujeet Maan (wrestling) in the regular category; Dinesh Jawahar Lad (cricket), Bimal Prafulla Ghosh (football), and Raj Singh (wrestling) in the lifetime category.
Ashwini Akkunji C., Dharamvir Singh, B.C. Suresh and Nir Bahadur Gurung will be given the Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games.
The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy 2022 will be given to Guru Nanak Dev University of Amritsar.
A large number of nominations were received this year for the awards. It was the very first time that the applications were invited only online, and sportspersons, coaches, and other entities were permitted to self-apply through a dedicated portal. The Selection Committee, which was responsible for choosing the awardees, was headed by Justice A. M. Khanwilkar, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. The committee consisted of members representing eminent sports persons, persons having experience in sports journalism, and sports administrators.
The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is the highest award given in the field of sports for the most spectacular and amazing performance by a sportsperson. Arjuna Awards are given for good performance in sports and for showcasing the qualities of leadership and sportsmanship.
The Dronacharya Award is given to coaches in sports for doing outstanding and meticulous work in sports. These National Sports Awards are given every year to recognise and reward excellence in the field of sports.
Major Dhyan Chand Awardee Sharath Kumar holds the record for the most number of Senior National Championships.
The 40-year-old tennis star won his first senior national medal at the age of 16 in the 2022 National Games. In 2018, the player won in the Commonwealth Games and helped take India forward in tennis. In the recent Commonwealth Games 2022, he won four gold medals, defeating top players from Nigeria and England.
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