Hyderabad: Woman boxer Nikhat Zareen and 24 other athletes are going to receive the Khel Ratna award on November 30. The country’s highest sporting honour, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award will be received by the table tennis legend Achanta Sharath Kamal.
The awardees will receive their awards from the President at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Nikhat Zareen, 24 others nominated for Arjuna award
Apart from Nikhat Zareen, athletes Eldhose Paul, Avinash Sable, and others have been nominated for the Arjuna Award this year.
Following is the complete list of athletes nominated for Arjuna award
- Seema Punia (Athletics)
- Eldhose Paul (Athletics)
- Avinash Mukund Sable (Athletics)
- Lakshya Sen (Badminton)
- HS Prannoy (Badminton)
- Amit (Boxing)
- Nikhat Zareen (Boxing)
- Bhakti Pradip Kulkarni (Chess)
- R Praggnanandhaa (Chess)
- Deep Grace Ekka (Hockey)
- Shushila Devi (Judo)
- Sakshi Kumari (Kabaddi)
- Nayan Moni Saikia (Lawn Bowl)
- Sagar Kailas Ovhalkar (Mallakhamb)
- Elavenil Valarivan (Shooting)
- Omprakash Mitharval (Shooting)
- Sreeja Akula (Table Tennis)
- Vikas Thakur (Weightlifting)
- Anshu (Wrestling)
- Sarita (Wrestling)
- Parveen (Wushu)
- Manasi Girishchandra Joshi (Para Badminton)
- Tarun Dhillon (Para Badminton)
- Swapnil Sanjay Patil (Para Swimming)
- Jerlin Anika J (Deaf Badminton).
Other awards
Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches
- Jiwanjot Singh Teja (Archery)
- Mohammad Ali Qamar (Boxing)
- Suma Siddharth Shirur (Para shooting)
- Sujeet Maan (Wrestling)
Dronacharya Award for coaches (Lifetime)
- Dinesh Jawahar Lad (Cricket)
- Bimal Prafulla Ghosh (Football)
- Raj Singh (Wrestling)
Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement
- Ashwini Akkunji C (Athletics)
- Dharamvir Singh (Hockey)
- B C Suresh (Kabaddi)
- Nir Bahadur Gurung (Para Athletics)
Nikhat Zareen
Nikhat Zareen who clinched the gold medal for India in the women’s 50kg light flyweight division at the 2022 Commonwealth Games is now aiming at a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The 26-year-old boxer is from Nizamabad city, Telangana. She completed her schooling at Nirmala Hrudaya Girls High School.
A few years back, the Bank of India located at AC Guards, Hyderabad appointed her as the staff officer.
Apart from a gold medal at the 2022 commonwealth games, the boxer won many other medals including a silver medal in the 2014 Youth World Boxing Championships, a gold medal in the 2019 Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament, etc.
