Bhubaneswar: Sprinter Dutee Chandhas found a place in the list of 29 athletes recommended for the Arjuna Awards this year. The list made by the Sports Ministry’s selection committee recommended the name of the national record holder in the 100 metres as one of the nominees. It should be stated here that Dutee Chand is currently training very hard to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Among others, India pacer Ishant Sharma was named in the list of athletes recommended by the Sports Ministry’s selection committee.
Male recurve archer Atanu Das, women’s hockey team player Deepika Thakur, kabaddi player Deepak Hooda and tennis player Divij Sharan have also been recommended for the award. The names were disclosed by a source here after the selection committee’s meeting here.
The 31-year-old Ishant has played 97 Tests and 80 ODIs for India, grabbing over 400 international wickets.
It has also been learnt that Olympic bronze-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik and former world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu too have got the committee’s nod but the final decision has been left on sports minister Kiren Rijiju as both the women are former Khel Ratna awardees.
While Sakshi won the Khel Ratna in 2016 for her Olympic bronze in the Rio Olympics, Mirabai was conferred with the honour in 2018 along with India captain Virat Kohli for her World Championship gold medal.