Mohammed Shami, India’s 2023 ODI World Cup star, conferred with prestigious Arjuna Award by President of India
India’s top-performing athletes on Tuesday were conferred with the national sports awards by the President, Droupadi Murmu, in a grand ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The ceremony is usually held on August 29 to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, but the event was postponed because of the Asian Games in China, which took place between September 23 and October 8, 2023.
The Arjuna Award list comprised 26 athletes and para-athletes. 19-year-old Esha Singh, who on Monday booked her ticket for the Paris Olympics, was the only recipient to have missed the ceremony as she was competing in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta.
Among the 25 recipients present at the Durbar Hall was Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami, who was the star performer for India in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Shami had come off the bench after failing to find a place in the XI for the opening four games in the tournament and finished as the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps, which included three five-wicket hauls, the most by any bowler in a single 50-over ICC event.
Shami, currently recovering from an ankle injury incurred during the World Cup, was present to receive the prestigious award and the crowd duly acknowledged his achievements with an ovation. Shami became the 58th Indian cricketer, male or female, to be conferred with the Arjuna Award, a list that includes some of the legendary names in Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, and Virat Kohli.
Here is the full list of the recipients for the 2023 awards National Sports Awards:
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for 2023: Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (badminton).
Arjuna Awards: Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Murali Sreeshankar (athletics), Parul Chaudhary (athletics), Mohammad Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Mohammed Shami (cricket), Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Divyakriti Singh (equestrian dressage), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (hockey), Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pawan Kumar (kabaddi), Ritu Negi (kabaddi), Nasreen (kho-kho), Pinki (lawn bowls), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Esha Singh (shooting), Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (squash), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis), Sunil Kumar (wrestling), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Naorem Roshibina Devi (wushu), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (blind cricket), Prachi Yadav (para canoeing).
Dronacharya Award (regular category) for outstanding coaches: Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Mahaveer Prasad Saini (para athletics), Shivendra Singh (hockey), Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar (mallakhamb).
Dronacharya Award (life-time category) for outstanding coaches: Jaskirat Singh Grewal (golf), Bhaskaran E (kabaddi), Jayanta Kumar Pushilal (table tennis).
Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement: Manjusha Kanwar (badminton), Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey), Kavitha Selvaraj (kabaddi).
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (overall winner university); Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runner -up), Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runner-up).