By IANS
New Delhi : President Pratibha Patil presented India’s top sports awards to ace sportspersons and coaches at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here Wednesday, on the birth anniversary of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, observed as National Sports Day.
Ace trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu was presented the 2006 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest sports honour.
Fourteen other sportspersons got the Arjuna Awards, India’s oldest sports prize that was launched in 1961, three the Dronacharya Awards for coaches and three people the Dhyan Chand Awards for lifetime achievement.
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award comprises Rs.500,000, a scroll of honour and a medal in recognition of spectacular and most outstanding performance in sports.
The Arjuna Award comprises Rs.300,000, a statuette of warrior Arjuna and a scroll of honour in recognition of outstanding achievements at the international level and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
The Dhyan Chand Award for life-time achievement in sports consists of Rs.300,000, a plaque and a scroll of honour in recognition of contribution to a sports discipline before and after retirement. It is given to a maximum of three sportspersons in a year.
The Dronacharya Award for a coach comprises a plaque and a scroll of honour and Rs.300,000 for consistent outstanding and meritorious work. It is given to a maximum of five coaches in a year.
Winners all:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Manavjeet Singh Sandhu (trap shooting).
Arjuna Awards: Jayanta Talukdar (archery), K.M. Binu (athletics), Chetan Anand (badminton), Vijender (boxing), P. Harikrishna (chess), Anjum Chopra (cricket), Jyoti Sunita Kullu (women’s hockey), Vijay Kumar (shooting), Sourav Ghosal (squash), Subhajit Saha (table tennis), Geeta Rani (weightlifting), Geetika Jakhar (wrestling), Naveen Gautam (kabaddi) and Rohit Bhakar (badminton-disabled category).
Dhyan Chand Awards: Varinder Singh (hockey), Shamsher Singh (kabaddi), Rajendra Singh (wrestling).
Dronacharya Awards: R.D. Singh (athletics/Paralympic Games), Damodaran Chandralal (boxing) and Koneru Ashok (chess)