Khel Ratna Award 2025: Gukesh D, Manu Bhaker among the recipients of India's highest sporting honor

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has officially announced the names of the athletes who are going to receive the prestigious Khel Ratna Award for 2025. This year, a total of four exceptional individuals from different sporting disciplines have been chosen for their outstanding contributions to Indian sports.

India’s highest sporting honor, the Khel Ratna Award, is given to athletes who have excelled in their fields and inspired millions. This award ceremony will take place soon and will honor the sporting legends for their exceptional contributions.

List of Khel Ratna Award 2025 recipients:

• Manu Bhaker: She is recognized for her unmatched precision and remarkable success on the global stage. Manu became the first Indian athlete to win twin medals in a single edition of the Games in Paris, following a double bronze in the 10 m air pistol and 10 m air pistol mixed team event. She will receive the Khel Ratna Award for her outstanding performance in shooting.
• Gukesh D: He is the youngest-ever Chess World Champion. Gukesh recently became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion after outclassing China's Ding Liren in the title battle in Singapore.
• Harmanpreet Singh: Indian Hockey Team Captain Harmanpreet Singh is being celebrated for his leadership and his role in the Hockey team’s success at major international tournaments. He led India to their second successive bronze medal in men's hockey while Praveen bagged gold in the high jump T64 in the Paralympics. He is going to receive the Khel Ratan award for his brilliant performance.
• Praveen Kumar: Paralympic Gold Medalist Praveen Kumar’s extraordinary determination and achievement in athletics have earned him this well-deserved honor.

Apart from the Khel Ratna, the Sports Ministry also named a 32-athlete list for the Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2024. The list includes Jyothi Yarraji, Annu Rani, Nitu, Saweety, Vantika Agrawal, Salima Tete, Abhishek, Sanjay, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Rakesh Kumar, Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari, Dharambir, Pranav Soorma, H Hokato Sema, Simran, Navdeep, Nitesh Kumar, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, Manisha Ramadass, Kapil Parmar, Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis, Swapnil Suresh Kusale, Sarabjot Singh, Abhay Singh, Sajan Prakash and Aman.

Former cyclist Sucha Singh and former para-swimmer Murlikant Rajaram Petkar were awarded Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) for outstanding performance in Sports and Games.

Subhash Rana (para-shooter), Deepali Deshpande (shooting) and Sandeep Sangwan (hockey) were named Dronacharya Award 2024 recipients.

S Muralidharan (badminton) and Armando Agnelo Colaco (football) were awarded the Dronacharya Award in the lifetime category.

Physical Education Foundation of India was given the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar while Chandigarh University (overall winner), Lovely Professional University (first runner-up) and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (second runner-up) were awarded Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024.

The overall top-performing university in Khelo India University Games is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.