There was also some controversy over the Dronacharya award list, which went to coaches Vimal Kumar (badminton), Sandeep Gupta (table tennis), Mohinder Singh Dhillon (athletics).
Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik was on Saturday recommended for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in Para Athletics along with wrestler Bajrang Punia.
The 48-year-old Malik won a silver in the shot put F53 category in the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Malik became the first Indian woman to earn a medal at the Paralympic Games and has won 58 national and 23 international medals.
Cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav were among the 19 chosen for the Arjuna Award. Badminton player HS Prannoy, who missed out on the coveted list, expressed his disappointment.
"If you ever want your name in the Awards list , make sure you have people who will get your name to the list. Performance is least considered in our country. Sad state of our county but can't help it. Let go and just play until you can. #arjunaawards," Prannoy tweeted.
There was also some controversy over the Dronacharya award list, which went to coaches Vimal Kumar (badminton), Sandeep Gupta (table tennis), Mohinder Singh Dhillon (athletics).
Eyebrows were raised by many because of the absence of Jaspal Rana among the awardees, who has created many a champion pistol shooters, including the likes of Manu Bhaker.
Even Abhinav Bindra expressed his frustration at Rana's omission on social media.
The Awardees
| Khel Ratna |
Bajrang Punia (wrestling), Deepa Malik (paralympics, athletics) |
| Arjuna |
Ravindra Jadeja (cricket), Poonam Yadav (cricket), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (athletics), Mohammed Anas Yahiya (athletics), S Bhaskaran (bodybuilding), Sonia Lather (boxing), Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (hockey), Ajay Thakur (Kabaddi), Gaurav Singh Gill (motorsports), Pramod Bhagat (para sports, badminton), Anjum Moudgil (shooting), Harmeet Desai (table tennis), Pooja Dhanda (wrestling), Fouaad Mirza (equestrian), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (football), Swapna Barman (athletics), Sundar Singh Gurjar (para-sports, athletics), Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth (badminton), Simran Singh Shergill (polo) |
| Dronacharya (regular) |
Vimal Kumar (badminton), Sandeep Gupta (table tennis), Mohinder Singh Dhillon (athletics) |
| Dronacharya (lifetime) |
Merzban Patel (Hockey), Rambir Singh Khokhar (kabaddi), Sanjay Bhardwaj (cricket) |
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