National Sports Awards: Shami, para archer Sheetal draw rousing applause at ceremony

New Delhi: India’s best-performing athletes were on Tuesday conferred with the national sports awards by President Droupadi Murmu in a regal ceremony where cricketer Mohammed Shami and para archer Sheetal Devi walked in to a rapturous applause at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were chosen for the coveted Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award for a breakout 2023, during which they won their maiden Asian

Games gold -- a first for India in badminton --, while also clinching the Asian Championships title and the Indonesia Open Super 1000 title.

The duo is currently playing in Malaysia Open Super 1000 and therefore skipped the function.

The awards ceremony, usually held on August 29 to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, was deferred because of the Hangzhou Asian Games from September 23 till October 8 last year.

An atmosphere of gaiety pervaded the Rashtrapati Bhawan as 26 athletes and para-athletes were

finalised for the Arjuna Awards this year, with teenager pistol ace Esha Singh the only one to miss the ceremony.

The 19-year-old Esha is competing in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jakarta and, on Monday, had qualified for the Paris Olympics after winning the individual and team gold in 10m air pistol.

The imprint of the Asian Games last year, and India’s record haul of 107

medals there, was evident in the ceremony as a majority of the athletes, who walked to the dais, were medal winners in Hangzhou.agencies