 "Chirag Shetty")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday congratulated the winners of the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2023, saying that the remarkable achievements and dedication of all the winners are an inspiration for the country.
President Droupadi Murmu presented the Sports and Adventure Awards 2023 at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. The awards included Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Awards-2023; Dronacharya Awards-2023; Arjuna Awards-2023; Dhyan Chand Awards-2023; Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards-2022; Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar-2023; and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy-2023.
"Congratulations to the illustrious winners of the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2023. Their remarkable achievements and unwavering dedication are an inspiration to our nation. They have not only excelled in their respective fields but also raised India's flag high on the global stage," tweeted PM Modi.
India's star badminton men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award during the ceremony on Tuesday.
Khel Ratna is the country's highest sporting honour given annually by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag, popularly known as 'Sat-Chi' have secured three Badminton World Federation (BWF) titles last year, the Swiss Open, the Indonesia Open and the Korea Open. They also won India's historic first-ever badminton gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and also the Asian Championships gold in April.
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The duo in October became the first doubles pair in Indian badminton history to be ranked at world number one in BWF rankings. Last year, the Indian shuttlers were a part of the country's historic, game-changing Thomas Cup win. They also bagged medals at the Commonwealth Games Gold in Birmingham and a Bronze at the World Championships.
So far, five shuttlers have been given the Khel Ratna award so far: Pullela Gopichand (2001), Saina Nehwal (2010), PV Sindhu (2016), Pramod Bhagat (2021) and Krishna Nagar (2021).
Earlier in the ceremony, Star India bowler Mohammed Shami, archers Ojas Pravin Deotale, Sheetal Devi, and Aditi Gopichand Swami, and wrestler Antim Panghal were among the stars who received the Arjuna Award.
The Arjuna Award, India's second-highest athletic honour, is given for good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, and a sense of discipline.
Arjuna Award: Mohammed Shami (cricket), Ajay Reddy (blind cricket) Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Parul Chaudhary and Murali Sreeshankar (athletics), Mohd Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Divyakriti Singh and Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (hockey), Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pinky (lawn ball), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis), Esha Singh (shooting), Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (squash), Sunil Kumar (wrestling), Naorem Roshibina Devi (wushu), Prachi Yadav (para canoeing), Pawan Kumar (kabaddi), Ritu Negi (kabaddi), Nasreen (kho kho).
Dronacharya Award regular category: Ganesh Prabhakaran (mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (para athletics), Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Shivendra Singh (hockey)
Dronacharya Award lifetime category: Jaskirat Singh Grewal (golf), Bhaskaran E (kabaddi), Jayanta Kumar Pushilal (table tennis)
'Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games' is given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and for enabling sportspersons to excel in International events.
Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement: Kavitha Selvaraj (kabaddi): Manjusha Kanwar (badminton): Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey)
'Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games' is given to honour sportspersons who have contributed to sports through their performance and who continue to contribute to the promotion of sports events after their retirement.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (Winner), Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runner-up), Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runner-up)
The overall top-performing university in inter-university tournaments is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.
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