Boxer Amit Panghal applies for Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award

Reigning Asian Games champion – flyweight boxer (52kg) Amit Panghal – has applied for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award. Earlier, the sports ministry made relaxation of doping rules, which will now permit athletes who have completed their doping violation ban period to be eligible for national sporting honors.

Panghal’s name has been recommended by the Service Sports Control Board (SSCB). Hailing from Rohtak’s Mayna village, the pugilist is currently serving as a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Indian Army.

The 12-member awards selection committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Mukundakum Sharma, will interact soon to finalize the list of this year’s awardees. The names will later be recommended to Sports Minister Anurag Thakur for approval.

Panghal has won a total of 16 medals, including nine golds in various multi-sport and international boxing events. He bagged gold medals at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, 2019 Asian Championships and the 2020 Cologne World Cup.

He clinched silver medals at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, 2019 AIBA World Championships and 2021 Asian Championships. He also won a bronze medal at the Asian/Oceania Olympic Qualification Event in 2020.

Panghal has the highest number of awards points – around 80 – among boxers who have applied for the Khel Ratna and Arjuna.

Despite Panghal applying for Khel Ratna, there is a chance that the selection committee might prefer to recommend the pugilist's name to the sports minister for the Arjuna award first. Panghal's accidental doping violation in 2012 has thus far denied him any national sports honors.

Earlier, Panghal, who was India's first and only silver-medallist at the world championships, was nominated twice for the Arjuna award and once for the Khel Ratna Award. His application for the following sporting honors has been rejected several times by the committee owing to his dope-tainted past.

.@Boxerpanghal is finally eligible for national sports honours! Amit has been nominated twice for the Arjuna award but hasn't been considered because of a dope violation dating to 2012, which occurred when he underwent treatment for chickenpox.https://t.co/f4bIluhrgh

— Shyam Vasudevan (@JesuisShyam) September 8, 2021

Sports Ministry allows Amit Panghal and other athletes to be eligible for national sporting honors

The sports ministry on Wednesday announced that all athletes penalized for doping violations will now be eligible for the national sporting awards. However, athletes still serving the ban period will not be considered for the awards.

The government has made dope-tainted athletes and coaches eligible for the National Sports Awards, including Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Award.

In 2012, Panghal underwent treatment for chicken pox, which resulted in the exclusion from receiving the sporting honor, despite his tall achievements. He was not considered for the award on the basis of an inadvertent doping offense that Panghal committed during his treatment for chicken pox in 2012.