National Sports Awards committee has released names of 11 athletes nominated for Khel Ratna and 35 for Arjuna Award.

Olympic heroes Neeraj Chopra, Lovlina Borgohain, Indian men’s national football team captain Sunil Chhetri and Indian women’s national cricket team captain Mithali Raj are among the 11 athletes who have been nominated for this year’s Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award. Meanwhile, cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, para table tennis player Bhavina Patel, and high jumper Nishad Kumar are among the 35 names nominated for the Arjuna award.

Those receiving the Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna award will be Neeraj Chopra (Athletics), Sunil Chhetri (Football), PR Sreejesh (Hockey), Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing), Ravi Dahiya (Wrestling), Mithali Raj (Cricket), Manish Narwal (Para Shooting), Sumit Antil (Athletics), Avani Lekhara (Para Shooting), Krishna Nagar (Para Badminton) and Pramod Bhagat (Para Badminton).

The national sports awards announcement was delayed so that those participating the in Tokyo Paralympics (August 24 – September 5) could be considered.

The committee has also announced the names of the 35 athletes who will be recommended for the Arjuna award. Along with cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, para table tennis player Bhavina Patel, para shuttler Suhas Yathiraj, high jumpers Nishad Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Sharad Kumar, archer Harvinder Singh, shooter Singhraj Adhana, and discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya, all members of the bronze medal winning Indian men’s hockey team from the Tokyo Games will also be given the Arjuna award, except PR Sreejesh and Manpreet Singh, as they have already received the award in 2018.