Manika Batra, Vinesh Phogat and Rani Rampal to be Honoured with Khel Ratna

Table tennis star Manika Batra, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and hockey player Rani Rampal will get the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Para-athlete Mariappan Thangavelu and cricketer Rohit Sharma have also been conferred the honor.

Star athlete Dutee Chand, shooter Manu Bhaker, cricketers Ishant Sharma and Deepti Sharma are among 27 sportspersons who will be honoured with the Arjuna Award.

Sakshi Malik and Mirabai Chanu, were been of the Justice (retd) Mukundakam Sharma-led selection committee that recommended 29 names and the decision on bestowing the Arjuna on them was left to the discretion of Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. This was due to the fact that they had already won the Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour

Dharmendra Tiwary (Archery), Purushotham Rai (Atheltics), Shiv Singh (Boxing), Romesh Pathania (Hockey), Krishan Kumar Hooda (Kabaddi), Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar (Para Powerlifting), Naresh Kumar (Tennis), Om Prakash Dahiya (Wrestling), in the life-time category, while Jude Felix Sebastian (Hockey), Yogesh Malviya (Mallakhamb), Jaspal Rana (Shooting) and Gaurav Khanna (Para Badminton, in the regular category, have be conferred with the Dronacharya Award.

The national sports awards will be held virtually on August 29, the National Sports Day, instead of the Rashtrapati Bhavan this year due to the coronavirus pandemic