If chosen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be the first badminton doubles pair to receive the Khel Ratna and will join the ranks of badminton greats like Pullela Gopichand, Saina Nehwal, and PV Sindhu.
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India’s top badminton men’s doubles team, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, and Chirag Shetty, have been nominated for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, India’s most prestigious sports achievement. The dynamic duo has had an exceptional year, reaching six finals and clinching victory in five, including triumphs at the Asian Games, Asian Championships, Swiss Open, Indonesia Open, and Korea Open. They became the runner-up at the China Masters 2023. This year, Satwik-Chirag also became the first Indian doubles team to achieve the No.1 spot in the BWF world rankings which was another milestone for Indian badminton.
Ahead of the official confirmation, a Badminton Association of India (BAI) official shared insights into the award nomination process – “Nowadays athletes apply for the awards directly. After scrutiny, the sports ministry discusses with the respective national sports federation (NSF) that they are considering the said athlete for the award. The federation either gives or does not give consent with reasoning. Normally players and the association have an informal discussion before applying, given their performance in the international arena. Satwik and Chirag had discussions with us before applying. The last date was December 2 I believe. The ministry hasn’t reached out to us yet. We will, of course, approve their nomination. They are our jewels.”
The Union Sports Ministry will officially announce the recipients. If chosen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be the first badminton doubles pair to receive the Khel Ratna and will join the ranks of badminton greats like Pullela Gopichand, Saina Nehwal, and PV Sindhu. Just like last year, there has been only one nomination for the Khel Ratna, compared to the 12 awardees in 2021 following the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
In other sports, Indian cricket fast bowler Mohammed Shami, the top wicket-taker at the ODI World Cup 2023, is a contender for the Arjuna Award. The list of nominees also includes standout performers from the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022, where India surpassed the 100-medal mark for the first time. Among the nominees are world champion compound archers Aditi Swami and Ojas Deotale, the members of the Indian men’s hockey team Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Sushila Chanu, boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin, chess grandmaster R Vaishali, golfer Diksha Dagar, shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, wrestler Antim Panghal, and table tennis player Ayhika Mukherjee.
Asian Games silver medalist Roshibina Devi in wushu, multiple-medalist pistol shooter Esha Singh, Greco-Roman wrestler Sunil Kumar, and kho kho player Nasreen Shaikh are also in contention for the Arjuna Award. Meanwhile, the Dronacharya Award nominees include Lalit Kumar for wrestling, Ganesh Prabhakaran for mallakhamb, Mahavir Saini for para athletics, RB Ramesh for chess, and Shivendra Singh for hockey. For the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award, nominees are Kavita for kabaddi, Manjusha Kanwar for badminton, and Vineet Kumar Sharma for hockey.
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