Sindhu, Sakshi, Dipa and Jitu Rai to get Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

In a big development, the Centre has decided to confer the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on four sportspersons – PV Sindhu (Badminton), Sakshi Malik (Wrestling), Dipa Karmakar (Gymnastics) and Jitu Rai (Shooting) for the year 2016.

This is the first time four sportspersons are receiving this coveted award. Sindhu won a Silver in Badminton Singles at Rio 2016. Sakshi won a Bronze medal in Wrestling. Dipa Karmakar finished a creditable 4th before missing the Bronze by a whisker. Jitu Rai has been given the award based on his previous performance although he failed to make any impact at Rio.

15 Sportspersons, including Ajinkya Rahane (Cricket), Lalita Babar (Athletics), Shiva Thapa (Boxing), VR Raghunath (Hockey), Gurpreet Singh (Shooting),  Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling) and Apurvi Chandela (Shooting), will be given the Arjuna Award.

Dipa Karmakar’s Coach Bisweshwar Nandi (Gymnastics), Virat Kohli’s Mentor Rajkumar Sharma (Cricket), Dutee Chand’s Coach N Ramesh (Athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (Boxing), Pradeep Kumar (Swimming, Lifetime) and Mahabir Singh Phogat (Wrestling, Lifetime) will get Dronacharya Award for 2016.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award carries a cash reward of Rs 7.5 lakh and a citation. In total, 28 Sportspersons have received this award till 2015. Viswanathan Anand was the first recipient of this award in 1991-92. Sania Mirza was the last recipient in 2015.