National Sports Awards 2019 - At A Glance

Dear Readers,

National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.

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 years;
Arjuna Award is given for consistently outstanding performance for four years;
Dronacharya Award for coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious international sports events,
Dhyan Chand Award for life time contribution to sports development and
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar is 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 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.

A large number of nominations were received for these awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committees consisting of former Olympians, Arjuna Awardees, Dronacharya Awardees, Dhyan Chand Awardees, Sports Journalists/Experts/Commentators and sports administrators. Selection Committee for the sports award 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/organizations:

(i) Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ranta 2019

S. No.	Name of the awardee	Discipline
1.	Deepa Malik	Para-athletics
2.	Bajrang Punia	Wrestling

(ii) Dronacharya Awards 2019

S. No.	Name of the awardee	Discipline
1	Mohinder Singh Dhillon (regular category)	Athletics
2	Sandeep Gupta (regular category)	Table Tennis
3.	Vimal kumar(regular category)	Badminton
4.	Manoj Kumar	Wrestling
5.	C Lalremsanga	Archery
6.	Arup Basak	Table Tennis
7.	Nitten Kirrtane	Tennis
8.	Manuel Fredricks	Hockey
9.	Sanjay Bhardwaj	Cricket (Lifetime)
10.	Rambir Singh Khokar	Kabaddi(Lifetime)
11.	Mezban Patel	Hockey (Lifetime)

(iii) Arjuna Awards 2019

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

(iv) Dhyan Chand Award 2019

S. No.	Name of the awardee	Discipline
1	C Lalremsanga	Archery
2	Manoj Kumar	Wrestling
3	Arup Basak	Table Tennis
4	Nitten Kirrtane	Tennis
5	Manuel Fredricks	Hockey

(v) Rashtriya Khel Protsahana Purushkar, 2019

S. No.	Category	Entity recommended for Rashtriya Khel ProtsahanPuruskar, 2019
1.	Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent	Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation and 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

(vi) 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 August 29, 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. 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.