New Delhi, December 20, 2023: In a significant announcement, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports revealed the recipients of the prestigious National Sports Awards 2023. The awards, a hallmark of recognizing sporting excellence in India, will be presented by the President of India in a special ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 9, 2024.
Highlighting the awards, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2023, the highest sporting honor in India, will be awarded to badminton players Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty and Rankireddy Satwik Sai Raj. Their exceptional achievements in badminton, particularly in team events, have earned them this esteemed recognition.
The Arjuna Awards, acknowledging outstanding performance in sports, will be bestowed upon 26 athletes across various disciplines. This includes notable names like Ojas Pravin Deotale and Aditi Gopichand Swami in archery, Sreeshankar M and Parul Chaudhary in athletics, and Mohammed Shami in cricket. Other awardees come from diverse sports like boxing, chess, equestrian, golf, hockey, kabaddi, kho-kho, lawn bowls, shooting, squash, table tennis, wrestling, wushu, para archery, blind cricket, and para canoeing, showcasing the depth and variety in Indian sports.
The Dronacharya Awards, which honor coaching excellence, will be given in both regular and lifetime categories. Coaches from wrestling, chess, para athletics, hockey, and mallakhamb will be recognized for their contribution to sports training and development.
Additionally, the Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games 2023 will honor three distinguished sportspersons from badminton, hockey, and kabaddi, acknowledging their prolonged contribution to their respective sports.
In the field of academic sports, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023 will be awarded to Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar as the overall winner, followed by Lovely Professional University, Punjab, and Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra as the first and second runners-up, respectively. This trophy celebrates the top-performing universities in inter-university tournaments.
These awards, given annually, not only recognize sports performance over the past four years but also honor the spirit of sportsmanship, discipline, and the contribution of coaches and educational institutions in promoting sports in India.
Complete list of Awardees
(i) Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2023
| Name of the sportsperson* | Discipline |
| Shri Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty | Badminton |
| Shri Rankireddy Satwik Sai Raj | Badminton |
* The Award has been conferred to both sportspersons having similar achievements on account of Team performance.
(ii) Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2023
| Name of the sportsperson | Discipline |
| Shri Ojas Pravin Deotale | Archery |
| Ms Aditi Gopichand Swami | Archery |
| Shri Sreeshankar M | Athletics |
| Ms Parul Chaudhary | Athletics |
| Shri Mohameed Hussamuddin | Boxing |
| Ms R Vaishali | Chess |
| Shri Mohammed Shami | Cricket |
| Shri Anush Agarwalla | Equestrian |
| Ms Divyakriti Singh | Equestrian Dressage |
| Ms Diksha Dagar | Golf |
| Shri Krishan Bahadur Pathak | Hockey |
| Ms Pukhrambam Sushila Chanu | Hockey |
| Shri Pawan Kumar | Kabaddi |
| Ms Ritu Negi | Kabaddi |
| Ms Nasreen | Kho-Kho |
| Ms Pinki | Lawn Bowls |
| Shri Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar | Shooting |
| Ms Esha Singh | Shooting |
| Shri Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu | Squash |
| Ms Ayhika Mukherjee | Table Tennis |
| Shri Sunil Kumar | Wrestling |
| Ms Antim | Wrestling |
| Ms Naorem Roshibina Devi | Wushu |
| Ms Sheetal Devi | Para Archery |
| Shri Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy | Blind Cricket |
| Ms Prachi Yadav | Para Canoeing |
(iii) Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games 2023
- Regular Category:
| Name of the Coach | Discipline |
| Shri Lalit Kumar | Wrestling |
| Shri R. B. Ramesh | Chess |
| Shri Mahaveer Prasad Saini | Para Athletics |
| Shri Shivendra Singh | Hockey |
| Shri Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar | Mallakhamb |
- Lifetime Category:
| Name of the Coach | Discipline |
| Shri Jaskirat Singh Grewal | Golf |
| Shri Bhaskaran E | Kabaddi |
| Shri Jayanta Kumar Pushilal | Table Tennis |
(iv) Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement in Sports and Games 2023:
| Name of the sportsperson | Discipline |
| Ms Manjusha Kanwar | Badminton |
| Shri Vineet Kumar Sharma | Hockey |
| Ms Kavitha Selvaraj | Kabaddi |
(v) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023:
| 1. | Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar | Overall winner university |
| 2. | Lovely Professional University, Punjab | 1st runner up University |
| 3. | Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra | 2nd runner up University |
