Why in news?
The Union sports ministry announced the National Sports Awards 2025 on 18 August 2026.
Who received recognition?
Seventeen sportspersons were selected for the regular Arjuna Award. They represent athletics, badminton, boxing, chess, shooting, hockey, kabaddi and rowing.
The list also includes para athletics, para shooting and deaf shooting. This spread recognises performance across Olympic, non-Olympic and disability sport.
Notable awardees include Tejaswin Shankar, Priyanka Goswami and Muhammed Ajmal V. Badminton players Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were also selected.
Chess players Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh appear on the list. Hockey players Lalremsiami and Rajkumar Pal also received recognition.
Former footballer I. Arumainayagam received the Arjuna Award in the lifetime category. Five coaches were chosen for Dronacharya honours.
Parveer Singh, Chhote Lal Yadav and Neha Nandkumar Chavan received regular coaching awards. Dharmendra Singh Yadav and Virender Kumar received lifetime honours.
The Army Paralympic Node in Pune received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar. No Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna recipient appeared in this announced list.
What the award categories mean
The Arjuna Award recognises sustained high performance, leadership, discipline and sportsmanship. The regular category examines performance across the preceding four years.
The lifetime Arjuna category honours former athletes who continue contributing after retirement. This can include coaching, administration or sports promotion.
The Dronacharya Award recognises coaches who help sportspersons excel internationally. Separate regular and lifetime categories distinguish current results from long service.
The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar recognises organisations supporting sports development. Eligible bodies can include companies and non-governmental organisations.
The award year and announcement year differ
These are the 2025 awards. The Government announced the final list in August 2026.
How the selection occurred
A dedicated online portal accepted self-applications from athletes, coaches and entities. Sports bodies and governments were also informed about the process.
A selection committee examined the applications. Retired Supreme Court judge Arun Kumar Mishra chaired the committee.
The panel included experienced sportspersons, administrators and sports journalists. The Government made the final award decisions from its recommendations.
Self-application can widen access beyond federation nominations. It also demands strong record verification and transparent treatment of comparable performances.
Why awards matter, and where they fall short
National recognition can extend an athlete’s public visibility and career opportunities. Coaching awards also acknowledge the people behind competitive success.
The inclusion of para and deaf sport supports a broader idea of sporting excellence. Institutional recognition can encourage investment in specialised training systems.
Award lists cannot substitute for athlete welfare. India still needs dependable coaching, sports science, injury care and post-retirement support.
Published selection criteria and performance records would strengthen public trust. Clear reasons are especially useful when no award is made in a category.
Recognition should reinforce the sports system
An award honours past achievement. Its larger value comes when recognition supports better careers, coaching and inclusive sporting pathways.
Conclusion
The 2025 list recognises excellence across disciplines and forms of ability. It also places coaches and institutions beside individual champions.
The next step is sustained support beyond the ceremony. Recognition should become part of a fair and athlete-centred sports policy.