Every year, India celebrates its most outstanding athletes, coaches, and sports organizations. The 2025 National Sports Awards have just been announced by the government, and this year brought a massive surprise.
Here is a simple breakdown of the biggest news and the top winners.
The Big Surprise: No Khel Ratna
The biggest talking point of 2025 is the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. This is the absolute highest honor an athlete can win in India. Shockingly, for the first time since 2014, the selection committee decided not to give this award to anyone.
The Arjuna Award Winners
Since the top prize was skipped, the spotlight shifted to the Arjuna Award, India’s second-highest sporting honor. This year, 17 incredibly talented athletes took home the prize for their hard work and success:
Athletics: Tejaswin Shankar, Muhammed Ajmal V, and Priyanka Goswami
Badminton: Treesa Jolly and Pullela Gayatri Gopichand
Chess: Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh
Hockey: Lalremsiami and Raj Kumar Pal
Kabaddi: Surjeet and Pooja
Boxing & Shooting: Narender (Boxing), Akhil Sheoran, and Dhanush Srikanth (Shooting)
Para Sports & Rowing: Rudransh Khandelwal, Ekta Bhyan (Para Sports), and Arvind Singh (Rowing)
Honoring the Masterminds: The Coaches
Behind every great athlete is a great coach. The Dronacharya Award celebrates these teachers in two separate categories:
Active Coaches: Parvir Singh, Chhote Lal Yadav, and Neha Nandakumar Chauhan received the regular award.
Lifetime Dedication: Dharmendra Singh Yadav (Boxing) and Virender Kumar (Wrestling) were honored for their lifelong commitment to teaching sports.
Other Important Updates
A Name Change: The award previously known as the ‘Major Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement’ has a new name. It is now called the ‘Arjuna Award Lifetime’. This year, legendary 1962 footballer I. Arumainayagam won it.
Top University: The MAKA Trophy is given to the university that performs the best in sports competitions across the country, complete with a cash prize to help them keep growing their sports programs.
Promoting Sports: The Army Paralympic Node in Pune was recognized for doing an amazing job at encouraging and supporting sports culture.
Which of the winning athletes or sports categories are you most excited to follow this year?