New Delhi, Aug 18: The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Tuesday announced the National Sports Awards 2025, recognising outstanding performances and contributions by sportspersons, coaches and sports-promoting organisations across various disciplines.
The awards were decided based on the recommendations of a selection committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra. The committee included eminent sportspersons, sports administrators and individuals with experience in sports journalism.
The Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2025 will be conferred on 17 sportspersons across athletics, badminton, boxing, chess, deaf shooting, hockey, kabaddi, para-sports, rowing and shooting.
Among the prominent names on the list are athletes Tejaswin Shankar, Muhammed Ajmal V and Priyanka Goswami; badminton players Treesa Jolly and Pullela Gayatri Gopichand; chess players Vidit Santosh Gujarathi and Divya Jitendra Deshmukh; hockey players Lalremsiami and Rajkumar Pal; and shooter Akhil Sheoran.
The other Arjuna Award recipients are boxer Narender, deaf shooter Dhanush Srikanth, kabaddi players Surjeet and Pooja, para-shooter Rudransh Khandelwal, para-athlete Ekta Bhyan and rower Arvind Singh.
The Arjuna Award recognises sustained sporting performance over the previous four years, along with qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and discipline.
The Arjuna Award (Lifetime) for 2025 will be presented to footballer I Arumainayagam for his contribution to the sport and continued efforts towards its promotion beyond his active competitive career.
The Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches will be presented in both regular and lifetime categories.
In the regular category, athletics coach Parveer Singh, boxing coach Chhote Lal Yadav and shooting coach Neha Nandkumar Chavan have been selected for the honour.
The Lifetime category will recognise boxing coach Dharmendra Singh Yadav and wrestling coach Virender Kumar.
The Ministry will also confer the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025 on the Army Paralympic Node, Pune, for its contribution to the promotion and development of sports.
Applications for the National Sports Awards were invited online through a dedicated portal, allowing sportspersons, coaches and eligible entities to apply themselves. The Ministry said a large number of applications were received this year and were examined by the selection committee.
The National Sports Awards are presented annually to recognise excellence in sports and acknowledge the contribution of athletes, coaches and organisations to the development of Indian sport.
