Now Reading: No Khel Ratna, Tejaswin Shankar among 17 Arjuna awardees
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No Khel Ratna, Tejaswin Shankar among 17 Arjuna awardees
The sports ministry announced the Arjuna Awards for 2025 on Tuesday, August 18, with 17 athletes selected. No Khel Ratna award was given this year, the second consecutive year without the top honour. The list does not include any cricketer, as reported by Times Now.
Decathlete Tejaswin Shankar, who won India's first Commonwealth Games decathlon medal (bronze), leads the recipients. Boxer Narender Berwal (silver at CWG), chess stars Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh (part of India's Chess Olympiad gold-winning team), and badminton doubles pair Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly are among the awardees.
Para-athletes Ekta Bhyan, Rudransh Khandelwal, and Dhanush Srikanth also feature. Former India footballer I Arumainayagam received the Arjuna Award (Lifetime category). The Dronacharya awards went to Parveer Singh, Chhote Lal Yadav, and Neha Nandkumar Chavan.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The absence of a Khel Ratna winner for a second year, while the sports ministry cites no suitable candidate, contrasts with the strong CWG and chess performances celebrated by Times Now and India Today. The Federal notes the Khel Ratna omission without elaboration. The Arjuna list itself draws broad agreement across sources, but the ministry's decision not to name a top award underscores a conservative approach to national honours. Watch for whether the Khel Ratna criteria are revised or remain unused for 2027.
Sources (4): timesnownews.com, sportstar.thehindu.com, indiatoday.in, thefederal.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above. Methodology and corrections.
Updated: this story now draws on 4 sources.
