Sardar Singh, Devendra Jhajharia to be Honoured with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

For the 2017 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, two names have been recommended for the prestigious award. Those names are Sardar Singh, former Indian Hockey captain, and Devendra Jhajharia, Rio 2016 Paralympic gold medallist. Jhajharia first won gold at the 2004 Athens Paralympics where he set the world record for the men’s javelin F46 event. Sardar Singh on the other hand, took over the Indian Hockey captaincy when the team were at their lowest point in 2012. Since then, the hockey team have gone on the clinch the 2014 Asian Games gold and a bronze at the 2015 Hockey World League.

The Haryana native made his debut in 2006 against arch-rivals Pakistan, and he has not looked back since. In 2010-11, Singh was named in an 18-member FIH All-Star team, a huge honour.

Additionally, the recipients of the Dronacharya Awards, awards that recognise the contribution by coaches from various fields, were announced. The awardees are R. Gandhi, Brij Bhushan Mohanty, Heera Nand Kataria, G.S.S.V Prasad, P.A. Raphel, Sanjoy Chakraverty and Roshan Lal for athletics, boxing, kabaddi, badminton, hockey, shooting and wrestling respectively.