Indian men’s hockey vice-captain Hardik Singh nominated for Khel Ratna, 24 Arjuna Awards nominees announced

NEW DELHI: The two-time Olympic bronze medalist and Indian men’s hockey team vice-captain Hardik Singh has been nominated for the nation’s top sports prize, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, reported Olympics.com on Wednesday.

The award is the top sporting honour a sportsperson can receive and is presented annually by the Union Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry. The nominated sportspersons receive the award from the President of India.

The list of nominations was finalised on Wednesday by the awards selection panel featuring London 2012 medallist and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) vice-president Gagan Narang, Moscow 1980 Olympics gold medal-winning hockey player MM Somaya and former badminton star Aparna Popat, as per Olympics.com.

So far, a total of six hockey players have been honoured with India’s top sports prize: Dhanraj Pillay (1999-2000), Sardar Singh (2017), Rani Rampal (2020), PR Sreejesh (2021), Manpreet Singh (2021) and Harmanpreet Singh (2024).

Hardik, a mainstay of the Indian midfield since his senior team debut in 2018, was a vital contributor for the bronze medal-winning teams at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics.

Hardik has also been one of the stars in India’s gold-medal wins at the Asia Cup 2025, which earned India direct qualification to next year’s Hockey World Cup, the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 and the Asian Games.

At just 27, Hardik has played 164 matches for India.

Hardik’s individual honours include back-to-back Player of the Year awards at the Hockey India Awards in 2022 and 2023, the FIH Player of the Year 2023, and the Arjuna Award in 2021.

Last year, it was Indian men’s hockey skipper and star drag flicker Harmanpreet Singh who was honoured with the Khel Ratna award alongside stars two-time Paris Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, chess world champion Gukesh D and para-athlete Praveen Kumar.

Also, a total of 24 players have been nominated for Arjuna Awards, which includes a yogasana athlete, Aarti Pal, for the first time ever. She is the current national and Asian champion in yogasana, which will feature as a demonstration sport at the Asian Games in Japan next year.b
Rifle shooter Mehuli Ghosh, gymnast Pranati Nayak and India’s top-ranked women’s badminton pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are other nominees.

Notably, no cricketer cut nominations this year. Indian pace veteran Mohammed Shami received the Arjuna Award in 2023.

The nominations for the Dronacharya Award and the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award are expected to be announced later.
*National Sports Awards 2025 – list of nominations

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: Hardik Singh (hockey)

Arjuna Award: Tejaswin Shankar (athletics), Priyanka (athletics), Narender (boxing), Vidit Gujrathi (chess), Divya Deshmukh (chess), Dhanush Srikanth (deaf shooting), Pranati Nayak (gymnastics), Rajkumar Pal (hockey), Surjeet (kabaddi), Nirmala Bhati (kho kho), Rudransh Khandelwal (para-shooting), Ekta Bhyan (para-athletics), Padmanabh Singh (polo), Arvind Singh (rowing), Akhil Sheoran (shooting), Mehuli Ghosh (shooting), Sutirtha Mukherjee (table tennis), Sonam Malik (wrestling), Aarti Pal (yogasana), Treesa Jolly (badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (badminton), Lalremsiami (hockey), Mohammed Afsal (athletics), Pooja (kabaddi).

Dronacharya Award: TBD

Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award: TBD. (ANI)