Sharath Kamal recommended for Khel Ratna, Sable among Arjuna nominees

Table tennis ace Achanta Sharath Kamal has been recommended for this year’s Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, the country’s highest sporting honour.

The awards committee, headed by Justice (retd) AM Khanwilkar, chose Sharath as the lone nominee, which makes him only the second paddler to bag the award, Manika Batra having won in 2020.

Sharath, the 40-year-old flagbearer of Indian TT, excelled at this year’s Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham, bagging three gold medals (men’s singles, mixed doubles, men’s team) and a silver (men’s doubles). He also has two Asian Games bronze medals, both won in 2018.

The committee also shortlisted 25 athletes for the Arjuna award. They include serial national record breaker in 3000m steeplechase, Avinash Sable, boxer Amit Panghal and triple jumper Eldhose Paul. Sable, by winning silver at the CWG, became the first non-Kenyan to medal in the event since 1998. Panghal set aside the disappointment of a first-round exit at the Tokyo Olympics with gold in Birmingham.

Paul had a breakout year that saw him become the first Indian to qualify for the triple jump final at the Eugene World Championships. He then leapt 17.03m in Birmingham to become the first Indian to win the men’s triple jump at the CWG.

Boxer Nikhat Zareen has also been recommended for the Arjuna following her twin gold, at the World Championships and CWG. Other Commonwealth medallists—judoka Shushila Devi, weightlifter Vikas Thakur and lawn bowler Nayanmoni Saikia—are also in line for country’s second-highest sporting honour.

Wrestlers Anshu Malik and Sarita Mor, both World Championships medallists, have also been shortlisted for the Arjuna award. Anshu also had a silver at the Birmingham CWG while Mor won bronze at this year’s Asian Championships.

India cricket captain Rohit Sharma’s coach Dinesh Lad has been recommended for the Dronacharya Award in the lifetime category. Archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja, boxing coach Mohammad Ali Qamar, rifle coach Suma Shirur (para shooting), and wrestler Bajrang Punia’s coach Sujit Mann have been recommended for the Dronacharya Award in the regular category.

This year’s national sports awards promise to be a leaner affair after as many as 12 were awarded the Khel Ratna and 35 the Arjuna last year, thanks largely to India’s best-ever medal haul at the Olympics and Paralympics.