The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Tuesday announced the National Sports Awards 2025. Seventeen sportspersons will be presented the Arjuna Award, while one was selected for the Lifetime Achievement honour. However, the Sports Ministry did not name any athlete for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award this year.
The awards were conferred based on the recommendations of the Selection Committee chaired by former Supreme Court of India judge Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra.
The list of 17 sportspersons includes chess players Divya Deshmukh and Vidit Gujrathi, Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist boxer Narender, Commonwealth Games 2026 bronze medallist Tejaswin Shankar, shuttlers Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, and young deaf rifle shooter Dhanush Srikanth.
1962 Asian Games gold medallist footballer I. Arumainayagam was conferred the Arjuna Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The 17 sportspersons nominated for the Arjuna Award are 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) and Akhil Sheoran (shooting).
The Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games will be given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and enabling sportspersons to excel in international events.
In the regular category, the Dronacharya Award will be presented to Parveer Singh (athletics), Chhote Lal Yadav (boxing) and Neha Nandkumar Chavan (shooting), while Dharmendra Singh Yadav (boxing) and Virender Kumar (wrestling) will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar will also be given to corporate entities (public/private) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have played a visible role in the promotion and development of sports.
Army Paralympic Node, Pune, has been conferred the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar.
