D Gukesh, Manu Bhaker, Harmanpreet Singh To Be Awarded Khel Ratna

Two-time Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker and world chess champion Dommaraju Gukesh will receive the prestigious the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.

Indian men's hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and para-athlete Praveen Kumar will also get the country's highest sporting award, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports said in a release on Thursday.

The awards will be presented by President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Jan. 17, the ministry added.

Bhaker became the first Indian woman to win the Olympics medal in shooting. She bagged a bronze at the Paris Olympics 2024 in the women's 10m air pistol event, while she secured another bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed-team event alongside Sarabjot Singh.

India's 18-year-old grandmaster Gukesh defeated China's Ding Liren to win the 2024 World Chess Championship. This win makes him the youngest-ever world champion. Gukesh is also the first teenager to claim this title.

The ministry also released the list of sportpersons who will get the Arjuna Awards and the Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches.

Here is list of sportspersons who will receive the Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in sports and games 2024:

Here is list of sportspersons who will get the Arjuna Awards (lifetime) for outstanding performance in sports and games 2024:

Subhash Rana, Deepali Deshpande and Sandeep Sangwan will receive the Dronacharya Award under the regular category for para-shooting, shooting and hockey discipline respectively.

S Muralidharan for badminton and Armando Colaco for football will be awarded with the Dronacharya Award under the lifetime category.