Wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat in contention for Khel Ratna Award
Having claimed gold medals at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 and the current Asian Games being held in Jakarta and Palembang, wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are now in the race for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. The award is considered the highest sports honour in India.
Bajrang's nomination for the award has already been processed by the Wrestling Federation of India, while the Indian Sports Ministry would be considering Vinesh’s name as well as informed to PTI by a source of Wrestling Federation of India. The first week of September will be the duration when India's Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore will review Indian athletes’ performances in the Asian Games which are currently going on in Indonesia.
There are high chances that the Sports Ministry will make the recommendations to the selection committee for the awards at that time. In the following days, the selection committee will come to a conclusion on this matter. Every year on August 29, India celebrates National Sports Day in order to mark the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand, where National sports Award ceremony is held.
However, this year the date has been postponed to September 25 to prevent any clash with the ongoing games and to make sure that athletes make an appearance in huge numbers.
“Bajrang has filled his form for the Khel Ratna Award through the federation and he is a deserving candidate for the award after his brilliant performances in CWG and Asiad. We don't know whether Vinesh has filled the form on her own or not but she can be considered by the Ministry,” a WFI official informed PTI.
“Both Bajrang and Vinesh are strong contenders for the Khel Ratna Award and it won't be a surprise for us if both win,” he added.
According to the Sports Ministry, these two wrestlers will be strong contenders for the Khel Ratna Award. Indian skipper Virat Kohli will also be in the race for the award along with Neeraj Chopra who won gold at both Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and the ongoing Asian Games as well for Javelin throwing.
Chopra will also be contending for the Arjuna Award and was bestowed with the
“Both Bajrang and Vinesh’s name were not in the entries received by the Ministry by April 30 cut-off date but we will have a review meeting of the Asian Games medal winners soon and the Ministry can recommend some eligible candidates to the existing list to the selection committee,” a Ministry official told PTI.
Previously, Vinesh had won a bronze medal at the Asiad in 2014 and holds two consecutive golds at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and 2018. Bajrang had won silver medals at the Asian Games 2014 and Glasgow Commonwealth Games. He also claimed a bronze medal at the World Championship in 2013.
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