MUMBAI: India’s Gold medallists in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games 2018, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, are amongst a list of champion athletes in the country who are in the race to win the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the country’s highest sporting honour this year, Press Trust of India reports.
A source in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has confirmed that Punia has filed his nomination already through the governing body while Phogat hasn’t done so as yet. However, she could directly be considered by the Sports Ministry. The chances of both of them receiving the award are strong, the source as well as an official in the ministry told the newswire.
The highest number of athletes to be conferred the country’s highest sporting award in a calendar year is four when PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar and Jitu Rai received the honour in 2016 after stellar performances in the Rio Summer Olympic Games.
“Bajrang has filled his form for the Khel Ratna Award through the federation and he is a deserving candidate for the award after his brilliant performances in CWG and Asiad. We don’t know whether Vinesh has filled the form on her own or not but she can be considered by the Ministry,” the WFI official was quoted as saying to PTI.
“Both Bajrang and Vinesh are strong contenders for the Khel Ratna Award and it won’t be surprise for us if both win.”
“Bajrang and Vinesh’s performances in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games have been exceptional, especially in the Asian Games where the level of competition in wrestling is very high,” the sports ministry official told PTI.
“Both Bajrang and Vinesh’s names were not in the entries received by the Ministry by April 30 cut-off date but we will have a review meeting of the Asian Games medal winners soon and the Ministry can recommend some eligible candidates to the existing list to the selection committee.
“Not just Bajrang and Vinesh, there were many other great performances from our athletes in the Asian Games and they will be considered as well,” he added.
All the Indian athletes’ performances will be analysed and assessed by sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore during the coming week. His recommendations will be sent to the selection committee of the Khel Ratna Awards, which will be finalised soon as well.
Every year, the National Sports Awards ceremony is held on August 29 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand as the National Sports Day.
But in a departure from tradition, this year’s ceremony has been shifted to September 25 to avoid a clash of dates with the ongoing Asian Games and ensure maximum participation of athletes.
