Manu, Gukesh among 4 Khel Ratna awardees

Paris Olympics double medallist shooter Manu Bhaker, recently crowned world chess champion D Gukesh, men's hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and para athlete Praveen Kumar were picked for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in a list announced by the Union sports ministry on Thursday.

- HT Correspondent

The confirmation of Bhaker being given the country's highest sporting honour comes after the 22-year-old's name did not figure in the initial list by the 12-member awards committee last month. That the only athlete in independent India to win two medals in the same Olympics was overlooked raised eyebrows and evoked criticism. However, Bhaker later admitted her "lapse" in not filing for the nomination.

Once that was "being corrected", as Bhaker said in her social media post last month, it was more or less certain that the sports ministry would add her name to the final list.

Gukesh, who won the World Chess Championship title only on December 12, is also a late addition as the last date for filing the nominations for the award that takes into consideration performances over the last four years closed in November.

The ministry of youth affairs and sports stated that the four Khel Ratna and 32 Arjuna awardees were finalised "based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny". The athletes will be handed their awards by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17.