President Murmu Presents Arjuna Awards to 17 Athletes, Including Para-Sport Stars

President Droupadi Murmu presented the Arjuna Awards 2025 to 17 sportspersons at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday. The awards recognise outstanding performances in sports and games, including achievements at major international competitions.

The recipients represented disciplines ranging from athletics, badminton and boxing to chess, hockey, kabaddi, rowing and shooting, including para-sports and deaf shooting.

KABADDI AND HOCKEY PLAYERS HONOURED

Kabaddi players Pooja and Surjeet were among the recipients. Pooja won medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Sixth Asian Kabaddi Championship, while Surjeet earned medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Busan Asian Kabaddi Championship.

In hockey, Lalremsiami was recognised for her contribution to India's medal-winning performances at major international tournaments, including the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Asian Champions Trophy. Rajkumar Pal received the award for his achievements, including medals at the Paris Olympics and the Hulunbuir Asian Champions Trophy.

PARA-ATHLETES RECEIVE AWARDS

Among the differently-abled sportspersons honoured were para-athletes Ekta Bhyan and Rudranksh Khandelwal, and deaf shooter Dhanush Srikanth.

Ekta, a club thrower, won gold in the F51 category at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe and silver at the 2025 edition in New Delhi. She has three World Championship medals, including a bronze at the 2023 edition in Paris. She also won gold at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta and silver at the 2023 edition in Hangzhou.

Rudranksh won two silver medals at the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, in the men's 10m air pistol SH1 and 50m pistol mixed SH1 events. In 2025, he won multiple medals at the World Shooting Para Sport World Cups, including gold medals at Changwon and Al Ain.

Dhanush Srikanth was recognised for his performances at international competitions, including the World Deaf Shooting Championships and the Summer Deaflympics.

FULL LIST OF ARJUNA AWARD RECIPIENTS

The 17 recipients of the Arjuna Award 2025 are Tejaswin Shankar, Muhammad Ajmal Variyathodi and Priyanka Goswami (athletics); Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand (badminton); Narender (boxing); Vidit Santosh Gujarathi and Divya Jitendra Deshmukh (chess); Dhanush Srikanth (deaf shooting); Lalremsiami and Rajkumar Pal (hockey); Surjeet and Pooja (kabaddi); Rudranksh Khandelwal and Ekta Bhyan (para-shooting); Arvind Singh (rowing); and Akhil Sheoran (shooting).

The Arjuna Award recognises good performance over the previous four years, along with qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and discipline.

OTHER NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS

Former Indian footballer and coach Arumainayagam is the recipient of the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) for his contribution to the sport and its promotion after retirement.

The Dronacharya Award recognises coaches for consistently outstanding and meritorious work in helping sportspersons excel at international events. Parveer Singh (athletics), Chhote Lal Yadav (boxing) and Neha Nandkumar Chavan (shooting) are among the recipients in the regular category. Dharmendra Singh Yadav (boxing) and Virender Kumar (wrestling) will receive the lifetime honours.

The Army Paralympic Node, Pune, will receive the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar for its role in promoting and developing sports.

The National Sports Awards are presented annually to recognise excellence in sports. The recipients were selected on the recommendations of a committee chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra.

With inputs from ANI