PR Sreejesh, Manpreet Singh receive Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna for Olympic heroics

India's experienced Hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and captain Manpreet Singh received the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award from President Ram Nath Kovind, the highest sporting honour of India, for their heroics in the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Sreejesh had an exceptional outing at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the Japanese capital city and was earlier awarded the Fédération Internationale de Hockey, commonly known by the acronym FIH, 'Goalkeeper of the Year award 2020-21' for its exploits protecting India's post leading to a Bronze medal. Manpreet Singh was the skipper of the men's hockey team which successfully India's 41-year drought to win an Olympic medal in field hockey.

Besides this, the entire Indian Men hocket team of the Tokyo Olympics have been honoured with the Arjuna Award. The list includes Surender Kumar, Rupinder Pal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Amit Rohidas, Sumit, Gurjant Singh, Simranjeet Singh and Varun Kumar.

Earlier, Hockey India President Gyanendro Ningombam had congratulated PR Sreejesh and Manpreet Singh for receiving Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. "This is truly a historic moment for the sport as two stalwart players will be honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award. On behalf of Hockey India, I congratulate them and also wish them the best in their future endeavours as there is still lots to achieve for Indian hockey and they have been important members of the squad," he had said.

12 sportspersons receive Major Dhyan Chan Khel Ratna

President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday presented 12 sportspersons Major Dhyan Chan Khel Ratna Award, formerly called the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, rewarding their excellence in sports. Those who received the award include

• Neeraj Chopra (Athletics)
• Ravi Kumar Dahiya (Wrestling)
• Lovina Borgohain (Boxing)
• PR Sreejesh (Hockey)
• Avani Lekhara (Para shooting)
• Sumit Antil (Para-Athletics)
• Pramod Bhagat (Para badminton)
• Krishna Nagar (Para Badminton)
• Manish Narwal (Para shooting)
• Mithali Raj (Cricket)
• Sunil Chhetri (Football)
• Manpreet Singh (Hockey)