KOHLI, CHANU RECOMMENDED FOR KHEL RATNA

JAVELIN THROWER NEERAJ CHOPRA AMONG 20 PICKED FOR THE ARJUNA

NEW DELHI: Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli and world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were on Monday recommended for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, while star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was among 20 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna Awards.

Besides Chopra, other prominent names recommended for the Arjuna Awards were junior world champion sprinter Hima Das and Asian Games gold-medallist middle distance runner Jinson Johnson, cricketer Smriti Mandhana, hockey players Manpreet Singh and Savita Punia, table tennis player Manika Batra and Asian Games doubles gold-medallist tennis player Rohan Bopanna.

These recommendations are subject to approval by Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Once ratified by him, President Ram Nath Kovind will present the awards on September 25 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Kohli will become the third Indian cricketer after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar (1997) and the talismanic former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2007) once the sports ministry officially accepts the committee’s recommendation.

“Yes, Virat Kohli and Mirabai Chanu’s names have been recommended by the awards committee,” a top source said on condition of anonymity.

It is learnt that India’s top male shuttler Kidambi Srikanth

was also in Khel Ratna contention for his good show in the Super Series Circuit last year but lost out to the 24-year-old Chanu, who is the reigning world champion in the 48kg category.

Asian Games gold-medallist boxer Amit Panghal was discussed but the committee decided against recommending him due to a failed dope test back in 2012, a source said.

Former Asian Games bronzemedallist

and Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Satish Kumar was the lone boxer to get the Arjuna honour this year.

Three shooters - Ravi Rathore, Ankur Mittal and Shreyasi Singh - also figured in the list of 20 recommended sportspersons while there were two from parasports -- Ankur Dhama and Manoj Sarkar.

This year’s award ceremony was postponed to September 25 from the usual August 19 National Sports Day event due to clash of dates with the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia.

The Khel Ratna awardees are entitled to a cash prize of ~7.5 lakh, while the Arjuna winners are given Rs 5 lakh.

DRONACHARYA LIST

National archery compound coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja is set to become one of the youngest Dronacharya awardees after the 34-year old’s name was recommended for the honour along with Asian Games gold medallist Arpinder Singh’s coach SS Pannu.

The selection committee picked Teja, head coach of the national compound archery team since 2013, along with Pannu, who trained triple jumper Arpinder Singh, the gold medal winner at the recent Jakarta Games.

Also recommended for the Dronacharya award are CA Kuttappa (boxing), Vijay Sharma (weightlifting) and A Srinivasa Rao (table tennis), according to the officials in the know in the Sports Ministry.

Four coaches have been recommended for the Dronacharya award in the life-time category. They are Clarence Lobo (hockey), Tarak Sinha (cricket), Jiwan Kumar Sharma (judo) and V R Beedu (athletics).

Four Dhyan Chand awardees picked by the selection committee are Satyadev Prasad (archery), Bharat Chhetri (hockey), Bobby Aloysius (athletics) and Chougale Dadu Dattatray.