The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Tuesday announced the National Sports Awards 2025, with 17 sportspersons given the Arjuna Award and one receiving the lifetime honour. The biggest talking point, however, was the absence of a recipient for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honour.

The awards were announced based on the recommendations of a selection committee chaired by the former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra.

Among the prominent names to receive the Arjuna Award for outstanding performance were high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, sprinters Muhammed Ajmal V and Priyanka Goswami, badminton players Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, chess players Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh, hockey players Lalremsiami and Rajkumar Pal, and shooter Akhil Sheoran.

Para-shooter Rudransh Khandelwal and para-athlete Ekta Bhyan were also recognised. Rower Arvind Singh, boxer Narender, kabaddi players Surjeet and Pooja, and deaf shooter Dhanush Srikanth completed the list of 17 Arjuna Award recipients.

The Arjuna Award (Lifetime) was given to former footballer I Arumainayagam, recognising his contribution to the sport. He was part of the Indian side which won the gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games and won three Durand Cup titles during his career.

“The ‘Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games’ is given for good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline,” a PIB release said.

There was no Khel Ratna recipient that year. Named after legendary hockey player Major Dhyan Chand, the honour was given for outstanding sporting achievement and was regarded as the country’s highest sporting honour.

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It was a departure from the previous year, when four sportspersons were named Khel Ratna recipients. Chess world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, India’s men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh, para-athlete Praveen Kumar and Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker received the award in 2024.

Gukesh was recognised after becoming the youngest world champion in chess in December 2024, while Bhaker became the first Indian athlete since independence to win two medals at a single Olympic Games.

Three coaches were selected for the Dronacharya Award in the regular category – athletics coach Parveer Singh, boxing coach Chhote Lal Yadav and shooting coach Neha Nandkumar Chavan. The lifetime category recognised boxing coach Dharmendra Singh Yadav and wrestling coach Virender Kumar.

“The ‘Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games’ is given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and for enabling sportspersons to excel in International events,” the release added.

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The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar, awarded to corporate entities and non-governmental organisations for their contribution to the promotion and development of sport, went to the Army Paralympic Node in Pune.

While the Arjuna and Dronacharya awards recognised a wide range of sporting achievements, the absence of a Khel Ratna recipient meant the country’s top sporting honour had no new name added to its roll of honour in the 2025 cycle.