The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has officially confirmed the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award recipients for 2023, with India’s acclaimed badminton pair, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, being among the distinguished awardees. The announcement was made on Wednesday, with the sports ministry revealing the complete list of annual sports awards for the upcoming year.
Additionally, the Arjuna Award has been conferred upon 26 exceptional sportspersons, including the prominent India pacer Mohammed Shami and the rising star in archery, Aditi Gopichand Swami.
The award ceremony is scheduled to take place on January 9, 2024, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the athletes will receive their honors from the President of India, Droupadi Murmu.
Chirag and Satwik had a remarkable 2023, clinching the Asian Games gold medal, a historic achievement for Indian badminton at the event. They also secured the Asian Championships title and the prestigious Indonesia Open Super 1000 title. Their accolades include being bronze medalists at the World Championships and gold medalists at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Expressing their sentiments, Satwik shared, “It was a fantastic year for us. When we started 2023, Satwik wanted to win medals at the Asian Games and be in the top 2 or 3 in the world. So really happy with that.” Chirag emphasized the significance of the Asian Games gold, stating, “The Asian Games gold was the most important title of the year, by far.”
Among the Arjuna Award recipients, Mohammed Shami stood out for his stellar performance in the ODI World Cup, where India finished as runners-up. Shami, at 33, emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, claiming 24 wickets, despite missing the initial matches. In the process, he became India’s highest wicket-taker in the history of the ODI World Cup.
Other notable Arjuna Award winners include hockey players Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Sushila Chanu, archers Ojas Pravin Deotale and Aditi Gopichand Swami, boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin, chess player R Vaishali, golfer Diksha Dagar, shooters Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Esha Singh, wrestlers Antim Panghal and Sunil Kumar, paddler Ayhika Mukherjee, and para archer Sheetal Devi, among others.
For the Dronacharya Award, both in the regular and lifetime categories, five coaches and three coaches, respectively, have been named. A noteworthy pairing is that of R Vaishali and RB Ramesh, with Vaishali recently achieving the prestigious title of India’s third female grandmaster in chess.
In summary, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for 2023 is set to honor the exceptional achievements of Chirag Shetty and Satwik sairaj Rankireddy in the domain of badminton.
