New Delhi : Sports Minister Vijay Goel on Saturday said that the nominees for this year’s National Sports awards, including silver medallist shuttler P V Sindhu and bronze medal winning wrestler Sakshi Malik at Rio Olympic Games, will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi here today.
“Olympics medallists, Khel Ratan (Ratna), Dronacharaya, Arjuna, DhyanChand & Tenzing Norgay National Adventure awardees to meet PM @narendramodi ji tomorrow,” Goel wrote on his twitter handle.
President Pranab Mukherjee will bestow the national sports awards on Monday.
The Sports Ministry last Monday announced that the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna will be conferred upon four athletes with Olympic medallists Sindhu and Sakshi set to be honoured alongside trail-blazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar and ace shooter Jitu Rai.
The Ministry also selected 15 athletes for this year’s Arjuna Award. The notable names in the list are boxer Shiva Thapa, long distance runner Lalita Babar, cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, hockey players VR Raghunath and Rani Rampal among others.
This year’s Dronacharya Award has been conferred upon six coaches, the most notable among them being Dipa’s coach Bishweshwar Nandi and India Test team captain Virat Kohli’s mentor Raj Kumar Sharma.
Besides Nandi, others who will be honoured with the Dronacharya Award are Nagapuri Ramesh (athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (boxing), Pradeep Kumar (swimming, lifetime) and Mahabir Singh (wrestling, lifetime).
The Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Satti Geetha (athletics), Sylvanus Dung Dung (hockey) and Rajendra Pralhad Shelke (rowing).
