Trio shine bright at awards gala

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat receives her Arjuna award from President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday. Phogat is recuperating from the knee injury suffered at the Rio Olympic Games. (Photo: PTI)

In the aftermath of their superlative show at the Rio Olympics, honours, gifts, cash rewards have poured in for P.V. Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar. Monday was another day of celebration of their powers in their respective field of sport.

The trio hogged the limelight at the national sports awards ceremony, when they along with shooter Jitu Rai were conferred the country’s highest sporting honour — the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here.

For the first time in the history of the awards, four athletes were awarded the Khel Ratna. In 2009, three — boxers Vijender Singh and M.C. Mary Kom and wrestler Sushil Kumar — received this award together.

After the event at the Darbar Hall, Sakshi and Dipa — not used to such attention until their Rio performances — obliged fans with selfies, while Sindhu flashed a big smile when asked for pictures.

“I am very happy and feel blessed. It’s great to win the Khel Ratna a few days after I won the silver. I dedicate this award to the hard work put in not only by me but my coach Gopi sir and my parents,” said Sindhu.

“This is just the start. I hope this will be the stepping stone for many more medals,” she added.

Sakshi, chased for bytes and photos throughout, could not just hide her emotions. “It is a very proud moment for me and my family. To be a Khel Ratna was beyond my wildest dreams. These are moments for which we athletes work so hard,” said the Haryana grappler.

The happy scenes notwithstanding, Vinesh Phogat, sitting in a wheelchair, was deep in thought in one corner.

The disappointment of bowing out of the Games with a knee injury, perhaps, was still fresh in her mind.

“It has been a very painful period both physically and mentally. But I am so moved to see the love and support of people all around me,” the Arjuna awardee wrestler said.

List of awardees: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: P.V. Sindhu (badminton), Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics), Jitu Rai (shooting), Sakshi Malik (wrestling)

Dronacharya Awards: Nagapuri Ramesh (athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (boxing), Raj Kumar Sharma (cricket), Bishweshwar Nandi (gymnastics), S. Pradeep Kumar (swimming, lifetime), Mahabir Singh (wrestling, lifetime)

Arjuna Awards: Rajat Chauhan (archery), Lalita Babar (athletics), Sourav Kothari (billiards and snooker), Shiva Thapa (boxing), Ajinkya Rahane (cricket), Subrata Paul (football), Rani (hockey), V.R. Raghunath (hockey), Gurpreet Singh (shooting), Apurvi Chandela (shooting), Soumyajit Ghosh (table tennis), Vinesh (wrestling), Amit Kumar (wrestling), Sandeep Singh Mann (para-athletics), Virender Singh (wrestling, deaf)