HI nominates 3 from UP for sports awards
LUCKNOW :Hockey India on Tuesday nominated as many as three individuals from Uttar Pradesh, including current star of Indian women’s team Vandana Kataria for the prestigious Arjuna and Major Dhyan Chand awards.
A former inmate of the state government girls hockey hostel in Lucknow, Kataria has been recommended for the Arjuna award, whereas former India right-out and present secretary of the UP Hockey, RP Singh (Lucknow) and former India forward Tushar Khandekar (Jhansi) have been nominated for Major Dhyan Chand awards.
It’s the first time when the names of three individuals from Uttar Pradesh have been recommended for the country’s prestigious award. Hockey India has recommended the name of the present captain of the women’s team Rani for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, while her compatriots Monika and Indian men’s hockey star Harmanpreet Singh too have been nominated for the Arjuna Award. Coaches BJ Kariappa and Romesh Pathania too have been nominated for the Dronacharya Award.
The period of consideration for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019. In this while, Rani has led the Indian team to historic victories in the Asia Cup in 2017, silver at the 2018 Asian Games and played a critical role in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 by scoring the deciding goal that helped in India’s qualification for the Tokyo Olympics.
In this period, the women’s Team also climbed to a careerbest FIH World Ranking of No 9. First from India to be named as the World Games Athlete of The Year 2019, Rani has also been the recipient of the Arjuna award in 2016 and the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2020.
Meanwhile, striker Vandana Katariya, who has over 200 international caps and Monika with over 150 international caps, have played key roles in the India’s sensational wins in 2019 which include the FIH Series Finals in Hiroshima, Tokyo 2020 Olympics Test Event and the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in Bhubaneswar.
While former India stars RP Singh and Tushar Khandker’s continued contribution in the field of Hockey has led to their recommendation for the Major Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement, BJ Kariappa who is nominated for the Dronacharya Award has coached the Indian junior men’s team to silver medal at the Sultan of Johor Cup in 2019. Romesh Pathania, on the other hand, continues to serve the sport as coach of Punjab National Bank.
Meanwhile another news add that star wrestler Vinesh Phogat was on Tuesday put in contention for ‘Khel Ratna’ while World Championship medallists Rahul Aware and Olympic-bound Deepak Punia were nominated for the Arjuna award alongside Sakshi Malik and two others by the Wrestling Federation of India.
The BAI has nominated top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and men’s singles player Sameer Verma for the Arjuna award, whereas the Table Tennis Federation of India has recommended star Manika Batra for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.