President Droupadi Murmu presented the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2025 at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday, marking the annual recognition of top Indian sportspersons and adventure achievers.
Decathlon star Tejaswin Shankar and FIDE Women's World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh joined thirteen other athletes to receive the Arjuna Award for outstanding performance. Shankar made history at the Commonwealth Games by winning a bronze medal in the decathlon, the first Indian to podium in that event. Deshmukh captured the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025, defeating fellow Indian Koneru Humpy 1.5-0.5 in rapid tie‑breaks in Baku.
The remaining Arjuna awardees were track and field runner Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, race walker Priyanak Goswami, boxer Narender, chess player Vidit Santosh Gujarathi, para shooter Dhanush Srikanth, hockey players Lalremsiami Hmarzote and Rajkumar Pal, kabaddi duo Surjeet and Pooja, para shooter Rudransh Khandelwal, para athlete Ekta Bhyan, rower Arvind Singh and shooter Akhil Sheoran. Women's badminton doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Pullela Gayatri Gopichand missed the ceremony as they competed in Japan for the Japan Masters. Veteran footballer Isaiah Arumainayagam received the Lifetime Arjuna Award for his enduring contribution to Indian sport.
Coaching excellence was honoured with the Dronacharya Award to athletics mentor Parveer Singh, boxing coaches Chhote Lal Yadav and Dharmendra Singh Yadav, shooting coach Neha Nandkumar Chavan and wrestling coach Virendra Kumar.
Adventure recognitions under the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards 2024 went to Baljeet Kaur and Skalzang Rigzin for land adventure, Rimo Saha for water adventure and Shiv Prasad Chamoli for lifetime achievement.
The Army Paralympic Node, Pune, earned the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, presented by Lt. Col. Daljit Singh, acknowledging the organisation's role in promoting sports development.
Image: Wikipedia — Droupadi Murmu
📰 Source: Mangalorean News