New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Awards 2025, with athlete Tejaswin Shankar, chess stars Vidit Gujarathi, Divya Deshmukh and badminton duo of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly among those nominated for the Arjuna Awards.
The National Sports Awards are given every year to recognise and reward excellence in sports. Based on the recommendations of the Selection Committee chaired by a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra, the Government has decided to confer awards on the following sportspersons, coaches and entities under various categories, as per a press release from the ministry.
The 'Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games' 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.
The athletes set to receive the award are: Tejaswin Shankar (athletics), Muhammad Ajmal Variyathodi (athletics), Priyanka Goswami (athletics), Treesa Jolly (badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (badminton), Narender (boxing), Vidit Santosh Gujarathi (chess) Divya Jitendra Deshmukh (chess), Dhanush Srikanth (deaf shooting), Lalremsiami (hockey), Rajkumar Pal (hockey), Surjeet (kabaddi), Pooja (kabaddi), Rudransh Khandelwal (para-shooting), Ekta Bhyan (para-shooting), Arvind Singh (rowing) and Akhil Sheoran (shooting).
The Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2025 will be given to players who have contributed to sports by their performance and continue to contribute to the promotion of sports even after they retire from active sporting careers.
Former Indian footballer and coach Arumainayagam (Football) will be receiving the award.
The Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games will be given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and for enabling sportspersons to excel in International events.
Parveer Singh (athletics), Chhote Lal Yadav (boxing) and Neha Nandkumar Chavan (shooting) will be among the recipients in the regular category, while Dharmendra Singh Yadav (boxing) and Virender Kumar (wrestling) will receive the lifetime honours.
The 'Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar' will also be given to corporate entities (Public/Private), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.
Army Paralympic Node, Pune will be receiving the 'Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar' award.
The applications for the aforementioned awards were invited online, and sportspersons/coaches/entities were permitted to self-apply through a dedicated Online Portal.
A large number of applications were received for these awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committee headed by Justice (Retd.) Mishra, and consisting of members from eminent sportspersons, persons having experience in sports journalism and sports administrators.
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