National Sports Awards: No Khel Ratna for 2025, 17 athletes receive Arjuna Awards
National Sports Awards Announce Recipients
The National Sports Awards 2025 have been announced by the Sports Ministry, with 17 sportspersons selected for the prestigious Arjuna Award. However, India’s highest sporting honour, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, will not be conferred on any athlete for 2025. This marks only the third time since the award’s inception in 1991-92 that no recipient has been chosen, with previous instances occurring in 2008 and 2014.
The recommendations for the awards were made by a high-level selection committee, which was led by retired Supreme Court judge Arun Kumar Mishra. This committee evaluated performances over the past four years before submitting its recommendations to Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya for final approval.
Among the athletes recognised with the Arjuna Award are Chess World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh and Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi. Athletics star Tejaswin Shankar is also among the 17 prominent sportspersons receiving the honour. The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place shortly, where all recipients will be presented with their accolades.
Arjuna Awardees Across Disciplines
The list of Arjuna Award recipients showcases achievements across a diverse range of sporting disciplines. Divya Deshmukh’s selection follows her historic victory at the FIDE Women’s World Cup, where she became the first Indian woman to secure the title. Tejaswin Shankar is being recognised for his athletics performances, which include a silver medal at the 2023 Asian Games.
The 17 sportspersons named for the Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in sports and games include:
- Athletics: Tejaswin Shankar, Muhammed Ajmal V, and Priyanka Goswami
- Badminton: Treesa Jolly and Pullela Gayatri Gopichand
- Boxing: Narender
- Chess: Vidit Santosh Gujarathi and Divya Jitendra Deshmukh
- Deaf Shooting: Dhanush Srikanth
- Hockey: Lalremsiami and Rajkumar Pal
- Kabaddi: Surjeet and Pooja
- Para-shooting: Rudransh Khandelwal
- Para-athlete: Ekta Bhyan
- Rowing: Arvind Singh
- Shooting: Akhil Sheoran
Additionally, footballer I Arumainayagam has been conferred with an Arjuna Award in the lifetime category.
Khel Ratna Decision and Other Honours
The decision not to recommend any athlete for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for 2025 came after discussions by the selection committee. During its meeting in New Delhi on December 12, 2025, the committee considered the possibility of compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam, along with India’s women’s World Cup-winning cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, for the Khel Ratna. However, none of these names were included in the final recommendations.
A factor in the discussion regarding the two leading Indian women cricketers was the absence of a specific points-based system for assessing cricket performances. In such situations, the committee typically relies on nominations from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), but no nominations were made for the cricketers. The last cricketer to receive the Khel Ratna was Mohammed Shami in 2023. The Khel Ratna, 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.
Beyond the Arjuna Awards, other honours were also announced. The Dronacharya Award for regular coaching excellence was presented to Parveer Singh for athletics, Chhote Lal Yadav for boxing, and Neha Nandkumar Chauhan for shooting, recognising their guidance of athletes to international podium finishes. For their decades of dedicated service, Dharmendra Singh Yadav (boxing) and Virendra Kumar (wrestling) received the Dronacharya Award (Lifetime).
The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, which acknowledges institutional work in sports promotion and development, was conferred upon the Army Paralympic Node in Pune for its efforts in developing and training adaptive athletes. The awards recognise sporting excellence, coaching contributions, and the broader promotion of sports, with applications invited through an online portal and assessed by a selection committee comprising eminent sportspersons, sports journalists, and administrators.
Source: english.gujaratsamachar.com
Priya Menon 