It was finally announced that the central government will award the Khel Ratna to double Olympic medallist Manu. Along with this, hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh, chess player D Gukesh and para-athlete Praveen Kumar will also receive the Khel Ratna.
Manu Bhaker to receive Khel Ratna. There was a debate about whether she will receive the award or not. Manu’s father expressed his anger. Finally, it was announced that the central government will give Khel Ratna to Manu, a double medal winner in the Olympics. Along with this, hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh, chess player D Gukesh and para athlete Praveen Kumar will also receive Khel Ratna.
Manu won a pair of bronze medals at the Paris Olympics last year. She won medals in the 10m air pistol and 10m pistol. Manu became the first Indian athlete to win two medals at the same Olympics. But there was a debate about whether she would receive the Khel Ratna or not.
The Khel Ratna is the biggest award in Indian sports. This award is given to the best athlete in the country every year. This time, Manu deserves this medal for the respect she has brought to the country. But it was learned that Manu’s name was not on the initial list of Khel Ratna. The controversy started after that. Many people questioned why the name of a successful athlete like Manu would not be on the list.
Her father Ramkishen had targeted the Union Sports Ministry for not seeing his daughter’s name in the list. He said, “We made a mistake by giving her a sport like shooting. She should have been made a cricketer. If she had, she would have received all the awards, all the honours. Manu won two medals in an Olympics. Who else in India has this feat? What else will my child do for the country? The government should honour her feat.”
Ramkishen said that he had spoken to Manu. The shooter was very upset about this incident. Ramkishen said, “Manu said that he had submitted his name. If that is true, then the committee should have considered his name. The shooting association should also talk to the ministry. I spoke to Manu. He told me, ‘I should not have gone to the Olympics. I should not have won a medal for the country. Honestly, I should not have become an athlete.’
However, Manu said otherwise on social media. He wrote, “My job as an athlete is to win medals for the country. It feels good to get awards. It boosts my confidence. But that is not the only goal. Maybe I made some mistake while submitting my name. Work is underway to fix that. Whether I get an award or not, I will continue to try to win medals for the country. Please do not escalate the controversy on this issue.
Finally, the Centre announced Manu’s name. Along with this, the name of Gukesh, who recently won the World Chess Championship, has also been announced. Under the leadership of Harmanpreet, India won bronze in hockey at the Olympics. He will also be given the Khel Ratna. Along with this, Praveen, who won gold in the T64 high jump at the Paralympics, will also be given this award.
The Arjuna Awardees are Jyoti Yaranji (Athletics), Annu Rani (Athletics), Neetu (Boxing), Swati (Boxing), Bantika Agarwal (Chess), Salima Tete (Hockey), Abhishek (Hockey), Sanjay (Hockey), Jarmanpreet Singh (Hockey), Sukhjit Singh (Hockey), Swapnil Suresh Kusale (Shooting), Sarabjit Singh (Shooting), Abhay Singh (Squash), Swajan Prakash (Swimming), Aman (Wrestling), Rakesh Kumar (Para-Athletics), Preeti Pal (Para-Athletics), Jeevanji Deepti (Para-Athletics), Ajit Singh (Para-Athletics), Sachin Khiladi (Para-Athletics)
Dharmaveer (Para-Athletics), Pranab Surma (Para-Athletics), Hokato Sema (Para-Athletics), Simran (Para-Athletics), Navdeep (Para-Athletics), Nitesh Kumar (Para-Badminton), Thulasimati Murugesan (Para-Badminton), Nitya Sumati Sivan (Para-Badminton), Manisha Ramadas (Para-Badminton), Kapil Parmar (Para-Judo), Mona Agarwal (Para-Shooting) and Rubina Francis (Para-Shooting).
