Commonwealth Games gold medallists Mirabai Chanu, Sanjita Chanu, Shreyasi Singh recommended for Arjuna Awards 2018

What’s the story?

Several Indian sports personalities have enjoyed tremendous success in the last one year and have done the country proud, bringing home several laurels. In a bid to recognize the efforts for their heroics, the recommendations for this year’s Arjuna Awards has been put forth by the respective sports associations.

The Arjuna Awards, India’s highest sporting honour is given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, recognizing outstanding achievement and contribution in the field of sports.

In case you did not know...

The first set of Arjuna awards were given in 1961 in order to recognise outstanding achievement in sports. With it, it carries a cash prize of 5 Lakhs, a statue of the legendary Mahabharata character Arjuna and a citation.

The heart of the matter

In shooting, 10m air pistol specialist Shahzar Rizvi has been recommended by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI). Others include double trap shooter Shreyasi Singh, who won a historic gold in Gold Coast, 10m air rifle expert Pooja Ghatkar and Gold Coast bronze medallist in the men’s double trap, Ankur Mittal.

In weightlifting, Manipuri girls Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and Sanjita Chanu who recently won gold medals at the CWG have been recommended for the Arjuna by the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF)

The other weightlifter apart from the Chanu duo whose application for the Arjuna has been forwarded to the sports ministry is 21-year-old Rahul Venkat Ragala, who won the gold medal at the recently concluded Gold Coast Games.

Vijay Sharma, the national coach of weightlifting, has also been credited for the turnaround in sport’s fortunes in the country and has been recommended for the Dronacharya award. The Dronacharya awards seek to reward excellence in coaching

In wrestling, the federation (WFI) has recommended the names of women freestyle grapplers Ritu Phogat and Jyoti. In the men’s freestyle, the names of Pawan Kumar, Vinod Omprakash and Sumit have been shortlisted.

What’s next?

It remains to be seen, which all sportspersons will be selected by the award selection committee for the prestigious award. The felicitation usually takes places around July-August each year.

Author’s take

All the sportspersons nominated for the award has made ineffable contributions in their respective field and helped put India on the map of world athletics. The recognition will act as a catalyst and inspire them to earn more accolades for the nation.