HIL 2024-25: Soorma Hockey Club ropes in Sardar Singh, Rani Rampal as mentor-cum coaches
Soorma Hockey Club, JSW Sports’ franchise in the revamped Hockey India League, will be propelled by hockey greats Sardar Singh and Rani Rampal.
Indian para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia and hockey wizard Sardar Singh will receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting announced on Tuesday, naming all recipients of the National Sports Awards.
(i) Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2017
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| S. No. | Name of the Awardee | discipline |
| 1. | Devendra Jhajharia | Para Athlete |
| 2. | Sardar Singh | Hockey |
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(ii) Dronacharya Awards 2017
| S. No. | Name of the Awardee | Discipline |
| 1. | Dr. R. Gandhi | Athletics |
| 2. | Heera Nand Kataria | Kabaddi |
| 3. | G.S.S.V. Prasad | Badminton (Lifetime) |
| 4. | Brij Bhushan Mohanty | Boxing (Lifetime) |
| 5. | P.A. Raphel | Hockey (Lifetime) |
| 6. | Sanjoy Chakraverthy | Shooting (Lifetime) |
| 7. | Roshan Lal | Wrestling (Lifetime) |
(iii) Arjuna Awards 2017
| S. No. | Name of the Awardees | Discipline |
| 1. | V.J. Surekha | Archery |
| 2. | Khushbir Kaur | Athletics |
| 3. | Arokia Rajiv | Athletics |
| 4. | Prasanthi Singh | Basketball |
| 5. | Sub. Laishram Debendro Singh | Boxing |
| 6. | CheteshwarPujara | Cricket |
| 7. | Harmanpreet Kaur | Cricket |
| 8. | Oinam Bembem Devi | Football |
| 9. | S.S.P. Chawrasia | Golf |
| 10. | S.V. Sunil | Hockey |
| 11. | Jasvir Singh | Kabaddi |
| 12. | P. N. Prakash | Shooting |
| 13. | A. Amalraj | Table Tennis |
| 14. | Saketh Myneni | Tennis |
| 15. | Satyawart Kadian | Wrestling |
| 16. | Mariyappan | Para-Athlete |
| 17. | Varun Singh Bhati | Para-Athlete |
(iv) Dhyan Chand Award
| S. No. | Name (S/Shri) | Discipline |
| 1 . | Bhupender Singh | Athletics |
| 2. | Syed Shahid Hakim | Football |
| 3. | Sumarai Tete | Hockey |
The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on 29 August 2017.
Along with a medal and citation, the awardees will receive cash rewards for their service in sports. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee will get a cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh, while Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees will receive Rs.5 lakh each.
Besides Sardar Singh, the list saw the names of hockey professionals like PA Raphel, SV Sunil and Sumarai Tete in the prestigious national awards’ list. Raphel, Sunil and Tete will be bestowed with Dronacharya, Arjuna and Dhyan Chand award respectively.
From the most followed game in India – Cricket, Cheteshwar Pujara and Harmanpreet Kaur made a cut for the Arjuna award. Female cricketer Harmanpreet earned nationwide acclaim after she scored 171 runs (not out) against Australia in the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup semi-final match.
Para-athletes also got recognition in the recent past and thus the Indian government decided to honour them as well. Besides Devendra Jhajharia, who has won two Paralympic gold medals for India, the awardees’ list saw the names of Mariyappan and Varun Singh Bhati. In the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Mariyappan won gold, while Varun brought home a bronze medal.
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