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The Arjuna Awards are a recognition of outstanding achievements in national sports. Instituted in 1961, they are given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.
It was only in the year 1994 that the first kabaddi player was honoured with the Arjuna Award. Subbiah Rajarathinam won the prestigious award and since then, quite a few have managed to win the prestigious accolade.
After the inaugural edition of the Pro Kabaddi League a few years ago, several kabaddi stars have managed to hog the limelight and have seen the inclusion of their names on the Arjuna award winners list.
Let’s have a look at each one of them.
#1 Navneet Gautam
Veteran campaigner Navneet Gautam is a two-time gold medal winner in the Asian Games in Guangzhou and Doha as well as Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam and Macau. In addition to that, Navneet has also won the Kabaddi World Cup.
The 33-year old raider has bags of experience and is purely a defender who positions himself in the left corner. Belonging to Rajasthan, he was a champion with the Jaipur Pink Panthers in the inaugural season of the Pro Kabaddi League and played for them in the following two seasons as well.
After missing out in the fourth season, he will ply his trade once again for his hometown franchise come season five. In all, he has played 28 matches in the PKL and scored a total of 22 points.
#2 Rakesh Kumar
Born in New Delhi, Rakesh was a part of the Indian national kabaddi team that won gold medals at the World Cup in 2004 and 2007. He is also a three-time gold medallist at the Asian Games in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
In addition to that, he has won gold medals at the South Asian Games in 2006 and 2010 as well as Asian Indoor Games in 2007, 2009 and 2013. Now in his mid-thirties, he is a seasoned campaigner and has a wealth of experience.
In the inaugural season of the Pro Kabaddi League, he was the most expensive player at the auction, having been bought by Patna Pirates for INR 12.80 lakhs. He played for them for the first two seasons before moving to U Mumba for season 3 and 4.
In season five, he’ll be representing the Telugu Titans. In all, he has played 45 matches and scored a total of 237 points. He has three super 10s and one high five to his name.
#3 Anup Kumar
Born in 1983, Anup Kumar was a member of the Indian national kabaddi team that won gold medals at the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014 and captained the side that won the Kabaddi World Cup in 2016. Hailing from Haryana, he is a Deputy Commissioner of Police by profession and is the current captain of the Indian national kabaddi team.
The 33-year old raider has played for U Mumba in all the seasons of the Pro Kabaddi League so far and was understandably retained ahead of season five. He was the most valuable player in season one and captained U Mumba to the title in season two.
He has played a total of 57 matches in the PKL, scoring 377 raid points at an average of 6.61 per game. He has 11 super 10s to his name.
#4 Manjeet Chhillar
30-year old all rounder Manjeet Chhillar is a star performer in the Pro Kabaddi League. Hailing from New Delhi, he was a member of the Indian national kabaddi team that won the gold medal at the Kabaddi World Cup last year.
He has also won gold medals at the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014 as well as the Asian Indoor Games in 2009 and 2014.
He was the captain of the Bengaluru Bulls in the first two seasons of the PKL and was a rock at the back for them. His performances in the first edition meant he was best defender of that season and followed it up by being the most valuable player of season two.
He moved to Puneri Paltan ahead of season three and was their captain in the last two seasons. He was bought by Jaipur Pink Panthers at the season five auctions recently.
He has played a total of 59 matches so far and has scored a whopping 403 points. He has 16 high 5s and two super 10s to his name.
