Shooter Manu Bhaker, the double Olympic medallist, the chess world champion D Gukesh, the men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and para-athlete Praveen Kumar are the nominees of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award this year.
India’s biggest sporting award is Khel Ratna. There were 32 other sportsmen (seven of them para-athletes) given Arjuna Awards by the sports ministry as well.
Manu Bhaker’s inclusion in the recommended list makes her the automatic winner of the prize, which is a relief for many. The earlier reports about her exclusion had provoked outrage and even her father Ram Kishan and coach Jaspal Rana vented.
Manu admitted a possible mistake she might have made during the nomination process.
Manu Bhaker, who was 22 years old at the time of his win, became India’s first Olympian to bag two golds in the same Olympics when she won bronze in both 10m air pistol individual and 10m air pistol mixed team events in August.
Singh in turn led the Indian hockey team to a second successive bronze medal at the same Games.
Gukesh is the youngest-ever World Chess Champion aged 18 and helped the Indian side to record a historic gold at the Chess Olympiad last year.
He’ll become the second chess player to earn the honour.
Fourth Prize winner will be Para high-jumper Praveen Kumar. He won the T64 competition in the Paris Paralympics.
The T64 classification is used by those with one or both legs that are partially missing below the knee, who run with a prosthetic leg.
“The recipients will receive their medals from President of India in a special function organized at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 17th January, 2025 (Friday),” the sports ministry said in a statement.
Khel Ratna Award (Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award) or Khel Ratna Award is the highest sports prize in India.
It is given annually by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, and honours outstanding work in sports.
The prize for the Khel Ratna Award (a medallion, a certificate, and a cash prize of INR 25 lakh) was announced in 2020.
The first winner was chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, who played in 1991–92. The youngest recipient of the award in 2001 was sports shooter Abhinav Bindra, then 18.
The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2023 was given to Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (badminton).
Khel Ratna –Candidates & Selection Procedure
Nominations are accepted for the award by government-appointed National Sports Federations, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sports Promotion and Control Boards and state and union territory governments.
No more than two qualified athletes can be submitted per sports discipline. Submissions are open until April 30 or last working day in April.
After submitting the legitimate nominators, they’re evaluated by a 12-person government selection committee. This is a committee with a chair appointed by the Ministry.
For games outside the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games (like cricket or national games), individual performance is evaluated for each participant.
The best athlete gets 80 points, the rest of them get marks proportionate to the best score. Scores from the selection committee are passed on to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports for final approval.