17 Sportspersons Named Arjuna Awardees; No One Named For The Khel Ratna Award
World Cup-winning chess player Divya Deshmukh and shuttler Gayatri Gopichand have joined Shankar on the exclusive list
XtraTime Newsweek: The Sports Ministry of India has announced the National Sports Awardees for the year 2025 and a total of 17 athletes were named for the Arjuna Award. However, no one was proclaimed the winner of the Khel Ratna award.
World Cup-winning chess player Divya Deshmukh and shuttler Gayatri Gopichand have joined Shankar on the exclusive list. Several renowned personalities are on the Arjuna Award list, including chess Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, badminton star Treesa Jolly, who partners Gayatri Gopichand in women's doubles, Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist boxer Narender, and promising deaf shooter Dhanush Srikanth.
Former India footballer I Arumainayagam, a member of the 1962 Asian Games gold-winning team, has received the Arjuna Award in the 'Lifetime Achievement' category.
“Based on the recommendations of the Selection Committee chaired by a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra, the Government has decided to confer awards on the following sportspersons, coaches and entities under various categories,” read the statement from the ministry.
Divya Deshmukh, who became India's fourth woman Grandmaster, earned the prestigious title after her triumph at the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia. Meanwhile, Tejaswin Shankar created history at the Commonwealth Games by securing bronze in the decathlon, becoming the first Indian athlete to win a medal in the event at the Games.
NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS 2025: FULL LIST OF WINNERS
Arjuna Award 2025
Tejaswin Shankar – Athletics
Muhammed Ajmal V – Athletics
Priyanka Goswami – Athletics
Treesa Jolly – Badminton
Pullela Gayatri Gopichand – Badminton
Narender – Boxing
Vidit Santosh Gujarathi – Chess
Divya Jitendra Deshmukh – Chess
Dhanush Srikanth – Deaf Shooting
Lalremsiami – Hockey
Rajkumar Pal – Hockey
Surjeet – Kabaddi
Pooja – Kabaddi
Rudransh Khandelwal – Para-Shooting
Ekta Bhyan – Para Athletics
Arvind Singh – Rowing
Akhil Sheoran – Shooting
Arjuna Award (Lifetime) 2025
I. Arumainayagam – Football
Dronacharya Award 2025 — Regular Category
Parveer Singh – Athletics
Chhote Lal Yadav – Boxing
Neha Nandkumar Chavan – Shooting
Dronacharya Award 2025 — Lifetime Category
Dharmendra Singh Yadav – Boxing
Virender Kumar – Wrestling
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025
Army Paralympic Node, Pune – Sports Promotion and Development
