Kapil Dev to honor international players Ritika Thaker, Divya Deshmukh and Sanjana Joshi during Khasdar Krida Mahotsav closing ceremony

Kapil Dev will honor central India’s top international sportspersons during the concluding ceremony of the 2022 Khasdar Krida Mahotsav (KKM) in Nagpur on Saturday.

Dev will facilitate international shuttler Ritika Thaker, Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh, Indian triathlon player Sanjana Joshi and others at the Yeshwant Stadium in Nagpur on Saturday.

The 21-year-old Ritika Thaker recently represented the Indian women’s team at the prestigious Thomas and Uber Badminton Championships in Bangkok, Thailand. The Indian women’s badminton team reached the quarter-finals.

Chess player Divya Deshmukh is a Women's Grandmaster (WGM) from Nagpur. The 16-year-old WGM was part of the gold medal-winning FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020 team. She is the second-ranked female chess player in India and the reigning national women’s champion.

Dev will also felicitate the 17-year-old triathlete Sanjana Joshi of Nagpur. Sanjana has been selected to the Indian triathlon team for the forthcoming 2022 Commonwealth Games slated to be held in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Ritika Thaker, Divya Deshmukh, Sanjana Joshi, and other top athletes of the region will also be honoured by 1983 World Cup cricket captain Dev.

Kapil Dev to grace Khasdar Krida Mahotsav concluding ceremony in Nagpur

The closing ceremony of season 4 of the country’s first multisport event, the Khasdar Krida Mahotsav, is being planned as a memorable event. The grand concluding ceremony will be staged at the Yashwant Stadium on May 28 from 5.30 pm onwards.

The grand finale will be graced by Kapil Dev and Union minister Nitin Gadkari. The chief guests for the three-hour function will be Maharashtra Sports Minister Sunil Kedar, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and MLC Chandrashekhar Bawankule. Executive Director of Hyundai Motor India Ltd DS Kim and Asso VP Corp Rel JCB India Ltd Jasmeet Singh will be the special guests.

Guests of honour will be MP Vikas Mahatme, MLC’s Pravin Datke, Nago Ganar, MLAs Krushna Khopde, Vikas Kumbhare, Mohan Mate, Sameer Meghe and Tekchand Sawarkar.

Presidents and secretaries of all the games taking part in season 4 of the sporting extravaganza will share the dais.

Krida Maharshee award goes to noted sports administrator Babanrao Taywade

Like every year, this time too, the organizing committee has decided to felicitate Nagpur’s best in their respective fields. Over the past three years, the committee has given Krida Maharshee awards to Atal Bahadur Singh, Shashank Manohar and Bhau Kane.

In the fourth edition, the committee has decided to bestow the Krida Maharshee on Babanrao Taywade, who will be given a memento and cash award of Rs 5 lakh by Kapil Dev. Babanrao Taywade has contributed a lot in the region’s sports over the last three decades.

25 Nagpur players to win Krida Bhushan award

For their consistent performance in their respective sports, 25 players will be conferred with the Krida Bhushan award and will be given Rs 25,000 and a memento.

Best Cooperation Award for Participating Association

This time, the committee has decided to introduce awards for one of the participating associations for their cooperation while organizing season 4 of the sporting festival. While all the associations gave their full support, the Nagpur District Hard-Court Tennis Association was identified for the Best Cooperation award and they will be given a prize money of Rs 1 lakh.

Krida Bhushan Award winners

Badminton: Ritika Thaker

Cycling: Sanjana Joshi

Athletics: Shadab Pathan

Football: Stanley Peter

Basketball: Anup Mhaske

Boxing: Ishika Varvade

Taekwon-do: Pravin Dhande

Rifle shooting: Prerana Yadav

Kho-kho: Deepali Sabane

Tennis: Sejal Bhutada

Chess: Divya Deshmukh

Swimming: Rishika Badole

Archery: Sandeep Gawai

Yogasana: Vaibhav Shrirame

Judo: Ketaki Gore

Softball: Rushabh Joddewar

Table tennis: Jennifer Verghese

Hockey: Himanshi Gawande

Kabaddi: Shashank Wankhede

Disabled sports: Abhishek Thaware

Volleyball: Sourabh Rokde

Fencing: Damini Rambhad

Sepak takraw: Irshad Sagar

Handball: Poonam Kadao

Powerlifting: Alfiya Shaikh.