 "Many star players including D Gukesh, Manu Bhakar, Harmanpreet were honored by the President")
The National Sports Awards ceremony was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday, where some of the world’s leading sportspersons were felicitated. On the occasion, President Draupadi Murmu presented the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award to two Olympic medalist shooter Manu Bhakar and world chess champion D Gukesh. Both these players were given this honor amid thunderous applause, which reflects their hard work. Manu Bhakar has lit up the country’s name at the Olympics, while D Gukesh recently won the Chess Championship title.
Harmanpreet was also honored: Apart from this, Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh was also honored with the country’s highest sports honour. Harmanpreet Singh was part of the Indian hockey team that won bronze medals at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics and also led the team at the Paris Olympics. Indian hockey achieved great success under his leadership, and he fully deserves this honour.
Para athletes also got honor
At the same ceremony, Paralympic gold medalist long jump athlete Praveen Kumar was also conferred the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. Praveen Kumar won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics and a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, which is a symbol of his dedication and hard work. His life has been full of struggles, especially the achievements he has made despite the physical deformities related to birth are quite inspiring. This time 32 sportspersons were honored with the Arjuna award, out of which 17 were para athletes. The Arjuna Award recipients included Paris Olympics bronze medalist wrestler Aman Sehrawat, shooter Swapnil Kusale, Sarbjot Singh and men’s hockey team members Germanpreet Singh, Sukhjit Singh, Sanjay and Abhishek. The success of these players proves that steps are being taken towards continuous improvement in the Indian sports world.