Asian Games gold medal winning wrestler Vinesh Phogat and table tennis ace Manika Batra are among the four sportspeople who have received recommendations for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour.
Paralympic gold medalist Mariappan Thangavelu and the Indian cricket team's white-ball vice-captain and opening batsman Rohit Sharma are the other two sportspeople who have been recommended for the Khel Ratna Award.
The decision was taken after the selection panel met on Tuesday for deciding the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and other national sports awards.
The committee, comprising the likes of Virender Sehwag and former hockey captain Sardar Singh, met at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) headquarters.
While Rohit has been recognised for his ever-rising accomplishments with the bat, Vinesh has been rewarded for her gold medals in the 2018 Commonwealth and Asian Games besides a bronze in the 2019 Asian Wrestling Championships.
Thangavelu got the recognition for his gold medal in the 2016 Rio Paralympics in the T42 high jump category. In 2016, star shuttler PV Sindhu, gymnast Dipa Karmakar, shooter Jitu Rai, and wrestler Sakshi Malik were collectively given the top honours.
(With agency inputs)
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