Arjuna Awards announced for 17 athletes
The Sports Ministry has announced the recipients of the Arjuna Awards 2025, with Tejaswin Shankar leading a group of 17 athletes. The awards were confirmed on Tuesday, August 18, following recommendations from a selection committee. However, no athlete was named for the Khel Ratna award, India’s highest sporting honour, this year.
Among the notable athletes receiving the Arjuna Award are Divya Deshmukh, a World Cup-winning chess player, and shuttler Gayatri Gopichand. Other prominent names on the list include chess Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, badminton player Treesa Jolly, boxer Narender, and deaf shooter Dhanush Srikanth.
I Arumainayagam, a former India footballer and member of the 1962 Asian Games gold-winning team, will receive the Arjuna Award in the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ category.
Key awardees and coaching excellence
The selection committee, chaired by former Supreme Court of India Judge Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra, evaluated performances over the past four years to determine the awardees. The ministry stated that the government decided to confer awards based on these recommendations.
Divya Deshmukh achieved the title of India’s fourth woman Grandmaster after her victory at the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia. Tejaswin Shankar made history at the Commonwealth Games by securing a bronze medal in the decathlon, becoming the first Indian athlete to achieve this in the event at the Games.
The full list of Arjuna Award 2025 recipients includes:
- Tejaswin Shankar – Athletics
- Muhammed Ajmal V – Athletics
- Priyanka Goswami – Athletics
- Treesa Jolly – Badminton
- Pullela Gayatri Gopichand – Badminton
- Narender – Boxing
- Vidit Santosh Gujarathi – Chess
- Divya Jitendra Deshmukh – Chess
- Dhanush Srikanth – Deaf Shooting
- Lalremsiami – Hockey
- Rajkumar Pal – Hockey
- Surjeet – Kabaddi
- Pooja – Kabaddi
- Rudransh Khandelwal – Para-Shooting
- Ekta Bhyan – Para Athletics
- Arvind Singh – Rowing
- Akhil Sheoran – Shooting
In the coaching categories, the Dronacharya Award 2025 for the Regular Category was given to Parveer Singh (Athletics), Chhote Lal Yadav (Boxing), and Neha Nandkumar Chavan (Shooting). For the Lifetime Category, Dharmendra Singh Yadav (Boxing) and Virender Kumar (Wrestling) were honoured.
The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025 was awarded to the Army Paralympic Node, Pune, for its work in sports promotion and development.
Delay in award announcements
The announcement of the National Sports Awards faced an unusual delay this year, causing unease within the sporting community. The selection committee submitted its recommendations approximately six months prior to the official announcement.
The Sports Ministry attributed the hold-up to a fresh review of the Arjuna Award selections, citing the need to maintain the integrity of the awards. This prolonged uncertainty has been a source of concern for athletes awaiting official confirmation.
Traditionally, the National Sports Awards ceremony was held on August 29, coinciding with National Sports Day and the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand. However, this convention changed after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with the ceremony now scheduled based on the sporting calendar rather than a fixed date. For instance, in 2025, the ceremony took place on January 17.
Source: indiatoday.in
