Indian star shooter Manu Bhaker and chess prodigy Gukesh D on Friday received their Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award among two other athletes from Indian President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi.
Alongside Manu and Gukesh, India hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and para-athlete high jumper Praveen Kumar also received the highest sporting honour in the country.
All four athletes have received the honours on the back of exceptional performances in the sporting arena. Bhaker had become the first Indian since Independence to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympic Games, while Gukesh had become the youngest-ever chess world champion. Hockey skipper Harmanpreet had led India to two bronze medal wins in the Tokyo Olympics and Paris Olympics, while Praveen won silver and gold at the Tokyo Games and Paris Games, respectively.
While these four received the highest sporting honour, 32 athletes were also honoured with another prestigious award - Arjuna Award.
Watch the Video of the award presentation here:
Chess.com India posted the video of Gukesh receiving his award from the president. "A historic moment for Indian chess! Congratulations to GM Gukesh on receiving the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award from Hon’ble President Droupadi Murmu. Your hard work and passion continue to inspire us all—onward and upward," the body wrote.
Manu had won bronze medals in the 10m air pistol individual event to open India's account at the Paris Games. She then bagged another bronze with Sarabjot Singh in a 10m air pistol mixed team event.
Gukesh had defeated Ding Liren of China in the 14-game clash to become the youngest world champion. He is the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to become the chess champion. With the final game all set to end in a draw, Liren had made a blunder to hand the game and the world title to Gukesh.
Meanwhile, Harmanpreet had led India to their second-consecutive bronze medal at the Games. India had won the bronze in the Tokyo Olympics by defeating Germany and then another bronze in Paris after beating Spain. Praveen had upgraded his silver in the Tokyo Olympics to gold in Paris.
Athletes to win Khel Ratna Award:
Shri Gukesh D - Chess
Shri Harmanpreet Singh - Hockey
Shri Praveen Kumar - Para-Athletics
Ms. Manu Bhaker - Shooting
Athletes to win Arjuna Award:
Ms. Jyothi Yarraji (Athletics)
Ms. Annu Rani (Athletics)
Ms. Nitu (Boxing)
Ms. Saweety (Boxing)
Ms. Vantika Agrawal (Chess)
Ms. Salima Tete (Hockey)
Shri Abhishek (Hockey)
Shri Sanjay (Hockey)
Shri Jarmanpreet Singh (Hockey)
Shri Sukhjeet Singh (Hockey)
Shri Rakesh Kumar (Para-Archery)
Ms. Preeti Pal (Para-Athletics)
Ms. Jeevanji Deepthi (Para-Athletics)
Shri Ajeet Singh (Para-Athletics)
Shri Sachin Sarjerao Khilari (Para-Athletics)
Shri Dharambir (Para-Athletics)
Shri Pranav Soorma (Para-Athletics)
Shri H Hokato Sema (Para-Athletics)
Ms. Simran (Para-Athletics)
Shri Navdeep (Para-Athletics)
Shri Nitesh Kumar (Para-Badminton)
Ms. Thulasimathi Murugesan (Para-Badminton)
Ms. Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan (Para-Badminton)
Ms. Manisha Ramadass (Para-Badminton)
Shri Kapil Parmar (Para-Judo)
Ms. Mona Agarwal (Para-Shooting)
Ms. Rubina Francis (Para-Shooting)
Shri Swapnil Suresh Kusale (Shooting)
Shri Sarabjot Singh (Shooting)
Shri Abhay Singh (Squash)
Shri Sajan Prakash (Swimming)
Shri Aman (Wrestling)