New Delhi, November 13: President Droupadi Murmu officially presented the National Sports Awards 2025 during a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday, honouring India's leading athletes, coaches and adventure sportspersons, news agency IANS reported. Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya was among those present at the function, which began at 11:30 a.m.

Source: IANS via Hi India

Decathlon athlete Tejaswin Shankar and FIDE Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh were among 17 sportspersons who received the Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in sports and games. Shankar created history at the Commonwealth Games by winning bronze in the decathlon, becoming the first Indian athlete to win a medal in the event at the Games, while Deshmukh became the first Indian woman to win the FIDE Women's World Cup, defeating Koneru Humpy 1.5-0.5 in the rapid tie-breaks in the all-Indian final in Baku, IANS said.

The Arjuna Award list

The other Arjuna recipients are Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Priyanka Goswami (athletics), Narender (boxing), Vidit Santosh Gujarathi (chess), Dhanush Srikanth (deaf shooting), Lalremsiami Hmarzote and Rajkumar Pal (hockey), Surjeet and Pooja (kabaddi), Rudransh Khandelwal (para shooting), Ekta Bhyan (para athletics), Arvind Singh (rowing), Akhil Sheoran (shooting), and badminton pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, according to the Sports Ministry's final list. Jolly and Gopichand were not present at the ceremony as the duo are in Japan for the Japan Masters.

Source: Indian White Paper

Veteran footballer Isaiah Arumainayagam received the Arjuna Award (Lifetime), given to sportspersons who continue to promote sports after retiring from active competition. The Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches went to Parveer Singh (athletics), Chhote Lal Yadav and Dharmendra Singh Yadav (boxing), Neha Nandkumar Chavan (shooting) and Virendra Kumar (wrestling).

Baljeet Kaur and Skalzang Rigzin (land adventure), Rimo Saha (water adventure) and Shiv Prasad Chamoli (lifetime achievement) were honoured with the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards 2024, while the Army Paralympic Node, Pune, received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, with Lt. Col. Daljit Singh accepting the award from the President, IANS reported.

The National Sports Awards are conferred every year to recognise excellence in sports. The final list of 2025 awardees was announced by the Sports Ministry on August 18, based on the recommendations of a selection committee chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra. The ceremony itself was delayed by more than a year; under the ministry's scheme the awards are ordinarily presented on August 29, the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand, with the date adjusted in years when the Olympic, Commonwealth or Asian Games are held.