President Mukherjee to confer Khel Ratna awards to Rio heroes today

New Delhi [India], Aug. 29 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee will give away the national sports awards at Rashtrapati Bhawan today on the occasion of National Sports Day. The day is celebrated to honour legendary hockey player, Major Dhyan Chand Singh who was born on 29th August, 1905. Olympics Silver medalist PV Sindhu, Bronze medalist Sakshi Malik, Gymnast Dipa Karmakar and Shooter Jitu Rai will be conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards. The Award is given for the most outstanding performance by a sportsperson over a period of four years. Six coaches will be honoured with Dronacharya Awards and they include Nagapuri Ramesh for Athletics, Sagar Mal Dhayal for Boxing and Raj Kumar Sharma for Cricket. Dipa Karmakar's coach Bishweshwar Nandi will also receive the award. The Dronacharya Award for Lifetime contribution will be given to S. Pradeep Kumar for Swimming and Mahabir Singh for Wrestling. Apart from this, 15 sports persons have been chosen for Arjuna Awards, among them are Olympian runner Lalita Babar, cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, boxer Shiva Thapa and wrestler Vinesh Phogat. Athlete Satti Geetha, hockey player Sylvanus Dung Dung and Rower Rajendra Pralhad Shelke will be given the Dhyanchand Award. On the eve of National Sports Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar and Jitu Rai at his residence in New Delhi. He also met the Khel Ratna awardees, Dhyan Chand awardees, Dronacharya awardees, and Tenzing Norgay awardees. Later, the Prime Minister said in a tweet that every Indian is proud of these athletes and that a major role in the success of every athlete is the perseverance of their coaches. (ANI)