The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2025 on Tuesday, naming 17 sportspersons for the prestigious Arjuna Award. However, no athlete was named for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award this year.
The names were announced based on the recommendations of the Selection Committee chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra.
Hockey star Hardik Singh was initially considered for the country's highest sporting honour, but eventually fell out of reckoning. The last time the country did not have a Khel Ratna winner was in 2014.
The delay in announcing the 2025 awardees, which came after more than half of 2026 had passed, was due to the ministry’s re-evaluation process to ensure that only deserving names were honoured and to “preserve the integrity of the awards.” In fact, this was the biggest delay since the awards were instituted in 1991.
The selection committee had originally laid out a 24-member list for the Arjuna Award, but the ministry approved only 17. The list, however, does not feature a single cricketer, which has been the case since pacer Mohammed Shami received the honour in 2023.
World Cup-winning chess player Divya Deshmukh, decathlete and high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, and shuttler Gayatri Gopichand were among the 17 sportspersons named for the Arjuna Award, which is given for “good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.”
{{/usCountry}}World Cup-winning chess player Divya Deshmukh, decathlete and high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, and shuttler Gayatri Gopichand were among the 17 sportspersons named for the Arjuna Award, which is given for “good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.”
{{/usCountry}}Divya, 19, became the fourth female chess Grandmaster after becoming the first Indian woman to win the World Cup last year in Batumi, Georgia. Tehaswin, on the other hand, recently won a historic bronze medal in decathlon at the Commonwealth Games last month in Glasgow, becoming the first Indian to do so in the quadrennial event.
Also among the Arjuna Award recipients are Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, Gayatri Gopichand’s women’s doubles partner Treesa Jolly, Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist boxer Narender, and young deaf rifle shooter Dhanush Srikanth.
I Arumainayagam, who was a member of the 1962 Asian Games gold-winning football team was sole winner of the Arjuna Award for 'Lifetime Achievement'.
The ministry has named three Dronacharya awardees.
Boxing coach Chhote Lal Yadav, who was a part of the women's national camp as well as the support staff of the legendary M C Mary Kom, is the most prominent name in the short list.
For the 'Lifetime Achievement' honour in coaching, Dharmedra Yadav, who coaches the men's national squad, and wrestling coach Virender Kumar have been named.
National Awards 2025:
Arjuna Awards: Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics), Priyanka Goswami (Athletics), Narender (Boxing), Vidit Gujrathi (Chess), Divya Deshmukh (Chess), Dhanush Srikanth (Deaf Shooting), Rajkumar Pal (Hockey), Surjeet (Kabaddi), Rudransh Khandelwal (Para-Shooting), Ekta Bhyan (Para-athletics), Arvind Singh (Rowing), Akhil Sheoran (Shooting), Treesa Jolly (Badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (Badminton), Lalremsiami (Hockey), Muhammed Ajmal (Athletics), Pooja (Kabaddi).
Arjuna Awards (Lifetime): Shri I Arumainayagam (Football)
Dronacharya Award: Parveer Singh, Chhote Lal Yadav, Neha Chavan
Dronacharya Award (Lifetime): Dharmendra Yadav, Virender Kumar.