National Sports Day: Big smiles as athletes get rewarded with Khel Ratna, Arjuna

Rani Rampal awarded with Khel Ratna for her contribution to Indian hockey. In what was the first virtual National Sports Awards ceremony forced due to the coronavirus pandemic, a record 74 sporting heroes of India were bestowed with the honours on the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, annually celebrated as India’s sports day. (Source: SAI)

From being a newspaper hawker to a Khel Ratna, it has been quite a ride for Paralympic gold-medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu, who still gets goosebumps thinking about the life he endured before sport changed it in more ways than one. The 25-year-old, who won a men’s high jump gold in the Rio Paralympics, is among the five athletes picked for the country’s highest sporting honour this year. Thangavelu still cannot believe how far he has come after suffering permanent disability at the age of five when a bus crushed his right leg below the knee. (Source: SAI)

Manika is the first Indian women paddler to clinch an individual gold at the Commonwealth Games. However, since her exploits at Gold Coasts 2018 she is yet to make a lasting impact. In fact, her ranking has also slipped to 63. (Source: SAI)

Dutee Chand said the Arjuna award will motivate her for next year's Tokyo Olympics and it will also inspire young athletes to pick up a sport. Her biggest wins came in 2018 at the Asian Games where she picked up a silver in both 100 m and 200 m races. She had won bronze medals in 100m and 4x100m relay at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships. She is the first Indian athlete to win in the World University Games. (Source: Dutee/Instagram)

Indian footballer Sandesh Jhingan is the 27th footballer to win the Arjuna award and it has been back-to-back Arjuna Awards in the sport for Punjab football as current India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu won it last year. (Source: Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

Archer Atanu Das with coach Dharmendra Tiwary. Rio 2016 Olympian Atanu Das has become the 17th archer to receive India’s Arjuna Award. (Source: Atanu/Instagram)

Divya Kakran is all smiles before the awards ceremony begins. Ever since breaking on the international stage with a bronze medal at the 2017 Asian Wrestling Championships, Divya has maintained her stranglehold on the women's 68kg category in the country. She won all her four bouts in the round-robin format to win gold in the Asian Championships in February. (Source: SAI)

Indian spin-bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma has been rewarded for her consistent performances in both Women’s ODI and T20I cricket in the past 12-18 months. Since the start of 2019, Deepti Sharma has 15 and 30 wickets in 12 ODIs and 24 T20Is respectively. Besides that, Sharma also stroked some brilliant cameos and racked up 137 and 302 runs in ODIs and T20Is respectively. (Source: SAI)

Hockey player Akasshdeep after receiving the Arjuna Award (Source: Hockey India)

Shooter Manu Bhaker ahead of the National Sports Awards at SAI centre (Source: SAI)

Assam boxer Lovlina wears PPE kit as she leaves for the ceremony (Source: Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

An Indian army Subedar Ajay Anant Sawant from the 61 Cavalry has been conferred the Arjuna award for the equestrian sport, Tent pegging. Subedar Sawant has won several medals over the years. He won his first international participation in 2002 and won the team silver in the 2018 World Cup in Abu Dhabi. (Source: SAI)

Shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, conferred with Arjuna awards, became the fifth Indian shooter to claim a gold medal in the Asian Games. (Source: SAI)

Kuldeep Handoo (Wushu) won the Dronacharya Award 2020. Under his tutelage, India bagged 4 medals at the World Championships. (Source: SAI)

Romesh Pathania (Hockey) also won the Dronacharya Award 2020. (Source: SAI)