Virat Kohli, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu Conferred With Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards

Cricket captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu were conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.

Kohli is the third cricketer to be awarded the highest sports award after Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. He was nominated twice in last two years but lost out to wrestler Sakshi Malik, shuttler PV Sindhu, gymnast Deepa Karmakar and shooter Jitu Rai in 2016. Last year, the award went to hockey player Sardar Singh and para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia.

Similarly, Mirabai is also the third weightlifter to win the award after Karnam Malleswari and Nameirakpam Kunjarani.

Besides the two, the president also conferred Arjuna Awards to athletes who have brought laurels to the country. 

Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won gold medals in the Commonwealth and Asian Games this year, and junior world champion sprinter Hima Das were among the 20 sportspersons, who received the Arjuna Award from President Ram Nath Kovind here.

The ceremony, which is traditionally held on August 29 to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, was pushed to September 25 this year to avoid a clash of dates with the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, which concluded on September 2.

Kohli was accompanied by his actor wife Anushka Sharma, his mother Saroj Kohli and his elder brother Vikas at the ceremony. Kohli received the Arjuna award in 2013 and the Padma Shri last year.

Kohli arrived through a separate entry just before the start of the ceremony and left as soon as it got over.

Sharing the top honours with him was Chanu, who had received the Padma Shri earlier this year, was chosen for the Khel Ratna following her gold medal in 48kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships last year.

She also bagged the yellow metal in this year's Commonwealth Games but didn't compete at the Asian Games due to injury.

"It was a huge honour for me. I never expected I will receive the award so early in my career. It is one of the happiest moment of my life," Chanu said.

Chanu, who missed the Asian Games due to a back injury, said she has started training again but will return to the international arena only in April next year.

"It's been a week that I have started training again. The doctors have advised me to go slow so I will miss the World Championships in November. I am expecting to return at the Asian Championships in next April," she said.

While the Khel Ratna award carries a prize purse of Rs 7.5 lakh, the Arjuna awardees are given Rs 5 lakh each along with a citation.

Besides the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards, the President also gave away Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awards to coaches, the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure awards, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar.

The awards, like every year, copped a fair share of controversies after wrestler Bajrang Punia's threat to move court over Khel Ratna snub being the most prominent one. He eventually backed down after meeting Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

Before this, the Sports Ministry struck off compound archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja's name from the list of Dronacharya awardees due to a past case of indiscipline.

Teja resigned from his position to express his angst.

The Dronacharya Award was presented to eight coaches this year, including cricket mentor Tarak Sinha and 39-year-old boxing coach C A Kuttappa, who was credited by Vijender Singh for his historic Olympic bronze in 2008.

The Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime sporting achievement was given to four former athletes.

Among the notable absentees was cricketer Smriti Mandhana and tennis player Rohan Bopanna, both of whom were to receive the Arjuna award. Mandhana is currently with the Indian women's team on its tour of Sri Lanka while Bopanna is playing an ATP event in Chengdu, China.

List of Awardees:

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Virat Kohli and Mirabai Chanu.

Arjuna Awards: Neeraj Chopra, Jinson Johnson and Hima Das (Athletics); N Sikki Reddy (Badminton); Satish Kumar (Boxing); Smriti Mandhana (Cricket); Shubhankar Sharma (Golf); Manpreet Singh, Savita (Hockey), Ravi Rathore (Polo), Rahi Sarnobat, Ankur Mittal, Shreyasi Singh (Shooting); Manika Batra, G Sathiyan (Table Tennis); Rohan Bopanna (Tennis); Sumit (Wrestling); Pooja Kadian (Wushu); Ankur Dhama (Para-Athletics); Manoj Sarkar (Para-Badminton).

Dronacharya Awards: C A Kuttappa (Boxing); Vijay Sharma (Weightlifting); A Srinivasa Rao (Table Tennis); Sukhdev Singh Pannu (Athletics); Clarence Lobo (Hockey, Lifetime); Tarak Sinha (Cricket, Lifetime); Jiwan Kumar Sharma (Judo, Lifetime); V R Beedu (Athletics, Lifetime).

Dhyan Chand Awards: Satyadev Prasad (Archery); Bharat Kumar Chetry (Hockey); Bobby Aloysius (Athletics); Chougale Dadu Dattatray (Wrestling).

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2018:

1. Identification and Nurturing of Budding & Young Talent: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited.
2. Encouragement to Sports through Corporate Social Responsibility: JSW Sports
3. Sports for Development: Isha Outreach

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2017-18: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. 

(With PTI inputs)