On Friday, 17 January, double Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker and world chess champion D. Gukesh were honored with the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award by President Droupadi Murmu at a grand ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. The ceremony, which marked the National Sports Day celebration, saw a warm reception for the star athletes.
Along with Bhaker and Gukesh, India’s men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and high jumper Praveen Kumar, who clinched a gold medal at the Paris Paralympics, were also recognized with the country’s highest sporting honor.
Manu Bhaker, who made history by securing two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics, became the first athlete from independent India to win more than one individual medal in a single edition of the Games. She overcame the disappointment of her previous Olympic performance to deliver a remarkable achievement in Paris.
D. Gukesh, a 19-year-old chess prodigy from Chennai, was awarded for becoming the youngest player to win the World Chess Championship. Gukesh triumphed over Ding Liren in the World Championship match held in Singapore last year, becoming only the second Indian, after Viswanathan Anand, to win the prestigious title.
A total of 32 athletes were conferred with the Arjuna Award, India’s second-highest sporting honor. In a historic first, para-athletes outnumbered able-bodied athletes, a testament to the strong performance of Indian para-athletes at the Paris Paralympics. India finished 18th in the medal table, winning 29 medals, including seven golds.
Among those receiving the Arjuna Award were Olympic medalists Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale.
The lead-up to the National Sports Day ceremony had sparked controversy due to reports of Manu Bhaker being omitted from an initial list of nominees. Bhaker’s father and coach, Jaspal Rana, expressed disappointment over the oversight, criticizing sports authorities for not nominating her despite her Olympic success. Manu’s father, Ram Kishan Bhaker, even remarked that he should have made his daughter a cricketer instead of a shooter.
However, Manu Bhaker downplayed the incident, attributing the issue to a possible oversight on her part when applying for the award. In an Instagram post, she explained that her focus has always been on performing for the country rather than seeking awards, adding that the nomination issue was being resolved.”
As an athlete, my role is to play and perform for my country,” she wrote. “I believe there has been a lapse, possibly on my part, while filing for the nomination, which is being corrected.”
