The nominations for the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awards were revealed on Wednesday. It had 11 names, including Neeraj Chopra, Mithali Raj and Sunil Chhetri.
The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna happens to be the most prestigious sporting award in India, recognised by the Indian government. On Wednesday, the nominations were revealed by the national sports awards committee, as 11 athletes were named in the same, which included some of the top Indian sporting stars.
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Among the notable ones happen to be Neeraj Chopra, who won India's first athletic gold in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in the javelin throw sport. Among other Olympic athletes who feature in the list are Ravi Dahiya, PR Sreejesh and Lovlina Borgohai. Also, veteran Indian women cricketer Mithali Raj features in the list alongside Indian footballing legend Sunil Chhetri.
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The list also features some para-athletes who ruled the Tokyo Paralympics 2020, coming up with even better performances than the Olympic athletes. It includes para-shooter Avani Lekhara, who won two medals during the event, thus being the first Indian woman to do so. Gold medalist Sumit Antil in the javelin throw category has also been nominated in the list.
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Besides, 35 athletes have also been recommended for the prestigious Arjuna Award. Meanwhile, here is the complete list of 11 athletes nominated for Khel Ratna:
Neeraj Chopra (Athletics)
Ravi Dahiya (Wrestling)
PR Sreejesh (Hockey)
Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing)
Sunil Chhetri (Football)
Mithali Raj (Cricket)
Pramod Bhagat (Badminton)
Sumit Antil (Javelin)
Avani Lekhara (Shooting)
Krishna Nagar (Badminton)
Manish Narwal (Shooting)
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The award was earlier known as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. However, earlier this year, it was changed to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award to pay homage to the former Indian hockey legend and Olympian, who is referred to as the greatest sportsperson ever to play for India.