London Olympics silver medalist Vijay Kumar and Bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt will be conferred with the country’s highest sporting honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 2012. Besides, 25 sportspersons will be presented the Arjuna Awards, the second highest sports award in the country. The awards were announced by the Union Sports Ministry on 19 August 2012.
Usually the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award is given to only one sportsperson in one calendar year but the rule can be relaxed in special circumstances such as an Olympic medal. Pistol shooter Vijay Kumar bagged a silver in the 25m rapid fire event at the London Olympics, while wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt claimed a bronze in 60kg free style event.
List of the sports persons, chosen for Arjuna Awards:
Deepika Kumari (Archery), Laishram Bombayla Devi (Archery), Sudha Singh (Athletics), Kavita Ramdas Raut (Athletics), Ashwani Ponnappa (Badminton), Parupalli Kashyap (Badminton), Aditya S Mehta (Billiards and Snooker), Vikas Krishan (Boxing), Yuvraj Singh (Cricket), Sardar Singh (Hockey), Yashpal Solanki (Judo), Anup Kumar (Kabaddi), Samir Suhag (Polo), Annu Raj Singh (Shooting), Omkar Singh (Shooting), Joydeep Karmakar (Shooting), Deepika Pallikal (Squash), Sandeep Sejwal (Swimming), Ng. Sonia Chanu (Weightlifting), Narsingh Yadav (Wrestling), Rajinder Kumar (Wrestling), Geeta Phogat (Wrestling), M. Bimoljit Singh (Wushu), Deepa Mallick (Athletics - Paralympics), Ramkaran Singh (Athletics - Paralympics).
A 15-member selection committee headed by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the 2004 Sydney Olympics silver-medalist and comprising noted sportspersons such as Akhil Kumar (boxing), Khajan Singh (swimming), Baichung Bhutia (football) and Ravi Shastri (cricket) finally approved the name of the 27 sportspersons for the coveted award.
The awardees will be presented the award by the President of India on National Sports Day on 29 August 2012.
Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna Award:
The Rajeev Gandhi Award was instituted in 1991-92. The award carries a medal, a scroll of honour and a cash prize of 7.5 lakh rupees. So far the award has been given to as many as 26 sportspersons. VishvanathanAnand was the first sportsperson to receive the award.
Arjuna Award:
Arjuna Award was instituted in 1961. The award carries a medal, a scroll of honour and a cash prize of 5 lakh rupees.
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