The nominations for the Arjuna Award are out, and the list of female sportspersons defines the growth of women’s dominance in the industry. Among the 24 sports persons selected for the honour, Aarti Pal is the first yogasana athlete to be named for the honor. The reigning national and Asian champion will be a highlight figure of the Asian Games scheduled in Japan 2026.
Other notable and defining female sports figures nominated for the Arjuna Award include Mehuli Ghosh (rifle shooter), Pranati Nayak (gymnast), badminton duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, Priyanka Goswami (athletics), Divya Deshmukh (chess), Nirmala Bhati (kho-kho), Ekta Bhyan (para-athletics), Sutirtha Mukherjee (table tennis), Sonam Malik (wrestling), Lalremsiami Hmarzote (hockey), and Pooja Narwal (kabaddi).
The men’s nomination list for this honor includes names like Tejaswin Shankar (athletics), Narender Berwal (boxing), Vidit Gujrathi (chess), Dhanush Srikanth (deaf shooting), Rudransh Khandelwal (para-shooting), Padmanabh Singh (polo), Arvind Singh (rowing), Akhil Sheoran (shooting), and Mohammed Afsal (athletics).
2025 Khel Ratna Award nominee
On the other hand, the nomination for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna 2025 has also been announced. Indian men’s hockey team vice-captain and two-time Olympic medallist Hardik Singh has been selected for the honor this year. The Khel Ratna is a major and the highest sporting honor awarded to a sportsperson, organized by India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Every year, a sportsperson is nominated and presented with the award by the President of India.
The nominations for 2025 were finalised by the selection panel on Wednesday, December 24. The list included notable names, including 2012 London Games medallist Gagan Narang, who is also the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) vice-president. In addition to him are 1980 Moscow Olympics gold medalist and hockey player MM Somaya and former badminton star Aparna Popat.
Indian women’s hockey legend Rani Rampal was the 2020 Khel Ratna Awardee who led India to a fourth-place finish in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The former player has played 254 international matches and has scored 120 goals after making her debut at the age of 14 during the 2008 Olympic qualifiers in Kazan.
She called time on her playing career in 2024. The same year, the 30-year-old former got her no. 28 jersey retired by Hockey India (HI). The queen of Indian Hockey was named coach of India’s U-17 team in 2023 by Hockey India 2023. In 2024, she was named the coach and mentor for the Soorma Hockey Club for the Hockey India League.
Meanwhile, the nominations for the Dronacharya Award and the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award are yet to be announced.
