Now Reading: No Khel Ratna in 2025, 17 athletes get Arjuna Awards
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No Khel Ratna in 2025, 17 athletes get Arjuna Awards
The Sports Ministry on Tuesday announced the National Sports Awards 2025, but did not confer the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award on any athlete for the first time in recent years. Instead, 17 sportspersons were named for the Arjuna Award, including chess players Divya Deshmukh and Vidit Gujrathi, badminton pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, boxer Narender, and decathlete Tejaswin Shankar. The awards were decided by a selection committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Arun Kumar Mishra.
Football legend I Arumainayagam, a 1962 Asian Games gold medallist, received the Arjuna Award for Lifetime Achievement. Three coaches, Parveer Singh (athletics), Chhote Lal Yadav (boxing), and Neha Nandkumar Chavan (shooting), were given the Dronacharya Award. The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar was awarded to the Army Paralympic Node, Pune. The ministry invited applications through an online portal, receiving a large number this year, and the panel evaluated them to recommend the final list.
Indian Opinion Analysis
All four sources neutrally report the awards list, but their framing differs. NDTV and The Hindu lead with the absence of a Khel Ratna recipient, framing it as a notable omission. Economic Times provides the most agency-style detail, listing all categories, including the Khel Ratna silence only as a secondary note. India TV avoids the omission altogether, leading with the Arjuna list. The Hindu adds context: naming Divya Deshmukh a 'World Cup winning' player and Gayatri Gopichand as Pullela Gopichand's daughter in India TV's tagline, adding minor colour. The middle ground is clear: no Khel Ratna was given, and 17 athletes received Arjunas. What remains to be seen is whether any explanation is provided by the ministry for skipping the top award.
Coverage: 4 sources, 4 neutral
Sources (4): economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report), sports.ndtv.com (neutral report), thehindu.com (neutral report), indiatvnews.com (neutral report)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above. Methodology and corrections.
Updated: this story now draws on 4 sources.
