Arjuna Award

On Saturday 35 Indian Athletes from all sports were conferred with the Arjun Award. This award is given to every athlete for his unparalleled contribution in his or her respective sport. Of the 35 recipients of this award, several athletes were in the news in recent times. The notable mentions in the list who were bound to be awarded include veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, senior Indian tennis player Ankita Raina, most members of the male and female hockey team, and Indian fencer Bhavani Devi. Here is an in-depth look: – 

Shikhar Dhawan Awarded with Arjuna Award: – 

It was just a matter of time before Shikhar Dhawan was going to get this honor. It was given to Shikhar because of his exceptional performance in international tournaments over the years. He was in the prime of his form in the One Day International series against England at home at the beginning of the year.  

Several Hockey Players Awarded the Arjuna Award: – 

Several hockey players of the contingent that went to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 were also awarded this prestigious accolade. The Indian Men’s Team at Tokyo 2020 Olympics came back with a Bronze Medal. This medal was the first for India in field hockey in 41 years. The medal left several Indian hockey fans teary-eyed and the baton of Indian hockey was passed. The team was inspirational. The list of the players is as follows: – 

  • 1) Simranjeet Singh 
  • 2) Surendra Kumar 
  • 3) Vivek Prasad 
  • 4) Nilkantha Sharma 
  • 5) Sumit Walmiki 
  • 6) Varun Kumar 
  • 7) Gurjant Singh 
  • 8) Shamsher Singh 
  • 9) Harmanpreet Singh 
  • 10) Rupinder Pal Singh 
  • 11) Dilpreet Singh 
  • 12) Lalit Upadhyay 
  • 13) Birendra Lakra 
  • 14) Mandeep Singh 
  • 15) Amit Rohidas 
  • 16) Hardik Singh 

The next awardees included a few members of the Women’s Hockey team. The women’s hockey team had just qualified for their second Olympics campaign and went to the semi-finals beating the Aussies in the quarterfinal. Hence, they too were more than deserving of this award. Here is the list: – 

  • 1) Vandana Kataria 
  • 2) Monika Malik 

Ankita Raina and Sandeep Narwal Awarded: – 

Ankita Raina, the senior Indian female tennis player was also conferred by the Arjuna Award. She bowed out early in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics but her contribution to empowering women is unmatched. Sandeep Narwal on the other hand is the best Kabaddi all-rounder in the history of Kabaddi. He was more than a deserving candidate for this award. 

Para-Athletes conferred by Arjuna Award: – 

The Indian Paralympic contingent came back with 19 medals. This feat made this contingent the most successful contingent in the history of Indian Paralympic representation. Each candidate of that contingent who came back with a medal was bound to be praised. Here is the list: – 

Other Important Arjuna Award Winners: – 

  • 1) Simranjit Kaur (Female Boxing)  
  • 2) Abhishek Verma (Top Seed in Pistol Shooting) 
  • 3) Arpinder Singh (Athletics) 
  • 4) Deepak Punia (Semi-Finalist in Wrestling at Tokyo 2020) 
  • 5) CA Bhavani Devi (First Indian to take part in Fencing) 

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