Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2023 today. The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 09th January, 2024 (Tuesday) at 1100 hours. Based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, Government has decided to confer awards upon the following sportspersons, coaches and entities:
(i) Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2023
| S. No. | Name of the sportsperson* | Discipline |
| 1. | Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty | Badminton |
| 2. | Rankireddy Satwik Sai Raj | Badminton |
* The Award has been conferred to both sportspersons having similar achievements on account of Team performance.
(ii) Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2023
| S. No. | Name of the sportsperson | Discipline |
| Ojas Pravin Deotale | Archery | |
| Ms Aditi Gopichand Swami | Archery | |
| Sreeshankar M | Athletics | |
| Ms Parul Chaudhary | Athletics | |
| Mohameed Hussamuddin | Boxing | |
| Ms R Vaishali | Chess | |
| Mohammed Shami | Cricket | |
| Anush Agarwalla | Equestrian | |
| Ms Divyakriti Singh | Equestrian Dressage | |
| Ms Diksha Dagar | Golf | |
| Krishan Bahadur Pathak | Hockey | |
| Ms Pukhrambam Sushila Chanu | Hockey | |
| Pawan Kumar | Kabaddi | |
| Ms Ritu Negi | Kabaddi | |
| Ms Nasreen | Kho-Kho | |
| Ms Pinki | Lawn Bowls | |
| Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar | Shooting | |
| Ms Esha Singh | Shooting | |
| Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu | Squash | |
| Ms Ayhika Mukherjee | Table Tennis | |
| Sunil Kumar | Wrestling | |
| Ms Antim | Wrestling | |
| Ms Naorem Roshibina Devi | Wushu | |
| Ms Sheetal Devi | Para Archery | |
| Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy | Blind Cricket | |
| Ms Prachi Yadav | Para Canoeing |
(iii) Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games 2023
- Regular Category:
| S. No. | Name of the Coach | Discipline |
| Lalit Kumar | Wrestling | |
| R. B. Ramesh | Chess | |
| Mahaveer Prasad Saini | Para Athletics | |
| Shivendra Singh | Hockey | |
| Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar | Mallakhamb |
- Lifetime Category:
| S.No. | Name of the Coach | Discipline |
| Jaskirat Singh Grewal | Golf | |
| Bhaskaran E | Kabaddi | |
| Jayanta Kumar Pushilal | Table Tennis |
(iv) Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement in Sports and Games 2023:
| S. No. | Name of the sportsperson | Discipline |
| Ms Manjusha Kanwar | Badminton | |
| Vineet Kumar Sharma | Hockey | |
| Ms Kavitha Selvaraj | Kabaddi |
(v) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023:
| 1. | Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar | Overall winner university |
| 2. | Lovely Professional University, Punjab | 1st runner up University |
| 3. | Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra | 2nd runner up University |
National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. ‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’ is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over the period of the previous four years.
‘Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games’ is given for good performance over a period of the previous four years and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline. ‘Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games’ is given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and for enabling sportspersons to excel in International events.
‘Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement in Sports and Games’ is given to honour sportspersons who have contributed to sports by their performance and who continue to contribute to promotion of sports event after their retirement. The overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.
The applications were invited online and sportspersons/coaches/entities were permitted to self-apply through a dedicated Online Portal. A large number of applications/nominations were received for these awards this year, which were considered by the Selection Committee headed by Justice A. M. Khanwilkar, Retd. Judge, Supreme Court of India and consisting members from eminent sportspersons, persons having experience in sports journalism and sports administrators.
