India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has declared the winners of National Sports Awards 2025, acknowledging sportspersons who have made a mark in Indian sports through their perseverance and exemplary contributions. The Arjuna Award is definitely one of the top honours for athletes, given for excellence at the international level and ability to inspire others to achieve their dreams.
The National Sports Awards honour exemplary talent and sporting achievements of India, thus marking the growing stature of Indian sports across the world.
What is the Arjuna Award?
The Arjuna Award for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games is among the prestigious awards in the field of sports in India. It is given to players who show consistent superior performance in the last four years along with qualities like:
-
Leadership
Sportsmanship
Discipline
Full List of Arjuna Award Winners 2025
A total of 17 outstanding sportspersons across disciplines including track and field, badminton, chess, shooting, kabaddi and para sports have been selected for the Arjuna Award 2025.
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of the Sportsperson
|
Discipline
|
|
1
|
Shri Tejaswin Shankar
|
Athletics
|
|
2
|
Shri Muhammed Ajmal V
|
Athletics
|
|
3
|
Ms. Priyanka Goswami
|
Athletics
|
|
4
|
Ms. Treesa Jolly
|
Badminton
|
|
5
|
Ms. Pullela Gayatri Gopichand
|
Badminton
|
|
6
|
Shri Narender
|
Boxing
|
|
7
|
Shri Vidit Santosh Gujarathi
|
Chess
|
|
8
|
Ms. Divya Jitendra Deshmukh
|
Chess
|
|
9
|
Shri Dhanush Srikanth
|
Deaf Shooting
|
|
10
|
Ms. Lalremsiami
|
Hockey
|
|
11
|
Shri Rajkumar Pal
|
Hockey
|
|
12
|
Shri Surjeet
|
Kabaddi
|
|
13
|
Ms. Pooja
|
Kabaddi
|
|
14
|
Shri Rudransh Khandelwal
|
Para-Shooting
|
|
15
|
Ms. Ekta Bhyan
|
Para Athletics
|
|
16
|
Shri Arvind Singh
|
Rowing
|
|
17
|
Shri Akhil Sheoran
|
Shooting
|
Some other major awards were also recognized.
Arjuna Award (Lifetime)
This award is given to athletes who excelled during their sporting careers and continued to contribute to the game even after their retirement. This year, Maharaja I. Arumainayagam from the sport of Football is the awardee.
Dronacharya Award
This award is given to the best coaches in their respective sports. The people honored in this category are as follows:
1. Regular Category - Parveer Singh in Athletics, Lal Yadav in Boxing, Neha Nandkumar Chavan in Shooting.
2. Lifetime Category - Dharmendra Singh Yadav for Boxing, Virender Kumar for Wrestling.
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar
This award has been given to the Army Paralympic Node in Pune to honor them for their contributions in the field of sports and promoting para-athletes.
The announcement regarding the National Sports Awards of 2025 issue represents a growing and changing India sports scenario. It is indicative of constant greatness, innovation and commitment in traditional and non-traditional or adaptive sports.
Whether it is the success of track-and-field players or that of chess champions or para-sportsmen. This year's Arjuna Award winners demonstrate India's ability to compete worldwide in various sports.