President Murmu Honors National Sports Awards 2024 Winners

President Droupadi Murmu conferred the National Sports Awards 2024 in a grand ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, today. The prestigious event celebrated the excellence and dedication of India’s top athletes and coaches across various sports.
Among the awardees, World Chess Champion D. Gukesh, Paris Olympics double medalist Manu Bhaker, Indian Men’s Hockey Team Captain Harmanpreet Singh, and Paris Paralympics gold medalist Praveen Kumar were honored with the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. This award recognizes the most spectacular and outstanding performances by sportspersons over the past four years.
Several distinguished coaches were presented with the Dronacharya Award for their exemplary contributions to nurturing talent. The recipients included Para-shooting coach Subhash Rana, Shooting coach Deepali Deshpande, Hockey coach Sandeep Sangwan, Badminton coach S. Muralidharan, and Football coach Armando Agnelo Colaco.
The Arjuna Award, which honors consistent excellence in sports, was bestowed upon 32 athletes this year. Among them were Athletes Jyothi Yarraji and Annu Rani, Boxers Nitu and Saweety, Chess player Vantika Agrawal, and Hockey players Salima Tete, Abhishek, Sanjay, Jarmanpreet Singh, and Sukhjeet Singh. Para-athletes such as Para-Archer Rakesh Kumar, Para-athletes Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, and Sachin Khilari also received this esteemed recognition.
Veteran Athlete Sucha Singh and veteran para swimmer Murlikant Petkar were honored with the Arjuna Awards (Lifetime category) for their enduring contributions to Indian sports.
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In addition, Chandigarh University was awarded the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy for emerging as the overall top-performing university in the Khelo India University Games, reinforcing its commitment to fostering sports talent.
The National Sports Awards 2024 stood as a testament to India’s growing stature in the global sports arena, inspiring a new generation of athletes to strive for excellence.