Manu Bhaker on the left and D Gukesh on the right. (FILE photo)
Pistol shooter Manu Bhaker and world chess champion D Gukesh will be honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, which is the highest sporting honour in the country, on January 17.
At the Paris Olympics this year, Manu Bhaker made history by becoming the only Indian athlete since Independence — man or woman — to win two medals at a single Olympic Games. The 18-year-old Gukesh, meanwhile, became the youngest ever world champion in chess after defeating Ding Liren in Singapore last month. Gukesh also won the Candidates tournament earlier in 2024 to secure his spot in the World Chess Championship and led the Indian chess team to a team gold at the Budapest Olympiad.
In addition to Manu Bhaker and Gukesh, Indian men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh, who was a key figure in the Indian team claiming a second bronze medal at a consecutive Olympics, and para-athlete Praveen Kumar are the other two names nominated for the award.
“The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 17th January, 2025 (Friday) at 1100 hours,” the sports ministry said in a press release.
“Based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, Government has decided to confer awards upon the following sportspersons, coaches, university and entity,” the ministry statement further added.
The 22-year-old Manu Bhaker won bronze in the 10m air pistol individual and 10m air pistol mixed team events in August.
In the same Olympics in Paris, Hamranpreet led the Indian hockey team to its second consecutive bronze medal.
The fourth recipient will be para high-jumper Praveen, who was crowned the T64 champion in the Paris Paralympics. The T64 classification is for athletes who have one or both legs missing below the knee and rely on a prosthetic leg for running.
(With agency inputs)
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