New Delhi [India]: President Ram Nath Kovind will give away the National Sports Awards 2021 on Saturday at a specially organized function at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports Awards on November 2. National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award will be given to 12 sportspersons including Neeraj Chopra (Athletics), Ravi Kumar (Wrestling), Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing), Sreejesh P.R (Hockey), Avani Lekhara (Para Shooting), Sumit Antil (Para-Athletics), Pramod Bhagat (Para Badminton), Krishna Nagar (Para Badminton), Manish Narwal (Para Shooting), Mithali Raj (Cricket), Sunil Chhetri (Football), and Manpreet Singh (Hockey). All men’s Hockey India team who has won the historic bronze medal in Tokyo 2020 Olympics has been awarded Arjun Award with the exceptions of PR Sreejesh and Manpreet Singh. The full list of athletes who will receive the Arjuna Award are Arpinder Singh, SimranjitKaur, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhavani Devi, Monika, Vandana Katariya, Sandeep Narwal, Hiimani Uttam Parab, Abhishek Verma, Ankita Raina, Deepak Punia, Dilpreet Singh, Harman Preet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Surender Kumar, AmitRohidas, Birendra Lakra, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Shamsher Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Varun Kumar, Simranjeet Singh, Yogesh Kathuniya, Nishad Kumar, Praveen Kumar, SuhashYathiraj, Singhraj Adhana, Bhavina Patel, Harvinder Singh, and Sharad Kumar. Dronacharya Award in the Life-Time Category went to T. P. Ouseph, Sarkar Talwar, Sarpal Singh, Ashan Kumar, and Tapan Kumar Panigrahi. Dronacharya Award in the regular category is awarded to Radhakrishnan Nair P, Sandhya Gurung, Pritam Siwach, Jai Prakash Nautiyal, and Subramanian Raman. Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement went to Lekha KC, Abhijeet Kunte, Davinder Singh Garcha, Vikas Kumar, and Sajjan Singh. Punjab University (Chandigarh) will receive the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy for 2021.
