In a significant and rare decision, the selection committee for the National Sports Awards has decided not to recommend any sportsperson for the country's highest sporting honour, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, for the year 2025. This marks the first time in a decade that the prestigious award will not be conferred.
Committee's Decision and Recommendations
The selection panel, which convened in New Delhi on Wednesday, deliberated on potential candidates but ultimately chose to withhold the Khel Ratna. However, it put forward a list of 24 athletes for the Arjuna Award. These recommendations have now been sent to Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya for final approval.
This is only the third instance since the award's inception in 1991-92 that no athlete has been chosen. The previous occasions were in 2008 and 2014. The award, which was known as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna until August 2021, includes a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, a medallion, and a citation.
Notable Omissions and Discussions
The committee reportedly held extensive discussions on several high-profile names, including world champion compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Women's World Cup-winning cricket stars Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana. However, they were not recommended for varied reasons.
Sources indicate that Jyothi Surekha Vennam, the 29-year-old world champion and Asia No. 1, was overlooked partly because compound archery was not an Olympic sport until its inclusion at the Paris Games last year. It is, however, set to feature at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Notably, she has been logging the highest points among Khel Ratna applicants for the past three years.
For cricketers Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, the absence of a specific points system to assess cricketers' performance posed a challenge. The committee typically relies on nominations from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). "There were no nominations of either men’s or women’s cricketers by the president or secretary general of the BCCI," a source revealed. The last cricketer to receive the Khel Ratna was pacer Mohammed Shami in 2023.
Historic Recommendations for Arjuna Award
The list of 24 Arjuna Award recommendations includes several historic firsts and notable achievers.
- In a landmark moment for the sport, yogasana athlete Aarti Pal has been recommended, five years after the Ministry formally recognised yogasana.
- Chess prodigy Divya Deshmukh, who became the first Indian woman to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup earlier this year, finds a place on the list.
- Asian Games 2023 silver medalist decathlete Tejaswin Shankar has been recommended.
- The women's badminton doubles pairing of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand have been jointly recommended for the honour.
The full list of Arjuna Award recommendations is as follows:
Athletics: Tejaswin Shankar, Priyanka, Mohammed Afsal
Boxing: Narender
Chess: Vidit Gujrathi, Divya Deshmukh
Deaf Shooting: Dhanush Srikanth
Gymnastics: Pranati Nayak
Hockey: Rajkumar Pal, Lalremsiami
Kabaddi: Surjeet, Pooja
Kho Kho: Nirmala Bhati
Para-Shooting: Rudransh Khandelwal
Para-athletics: Ekta Bhyan
Polo: Padmanabh Singh
Rowing: Arvind Singh
Shooting: Akhil Sheoran, Mehuli Ghosh
Table Tennis: Sutirtha Mukherjee
Wrestling: Sonam Malik
Yoga: Aarti Pal
Badminton: Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand
The decision to not confer the Khel Ratna underscores the high standards and rigorous scrutiny applied by the selection committee, even as it celebrates a diverse array of sporting talent through the Arjuna Awards.
