The Indian sporting community is buzzing with excitement as the selection committee, featuring legends like Gagan Narang and Aparna Popat, has officially recommended the nominees for the National Sports Awards 2025.
This year’s list highlights the dominance of individual excellence and the rising profile of non-traditional sports on the national stage.
Hardik Singh: The Pride of Indian Hockey
The headline of the 2025 nominations is undoubtedly Hardik Singh, the vice-captain of the Indian men’s hockey team. Recommended as the sole candidate for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, Hardik has been a cornerstone of India’s back-to-back Olympic bronze finishes in Tokyo and Paris.
Having earned the FIH Player of the Year title in 2023 and led India to a historic gold at the Asia Cup 2025, Hardik is poised to join an elite club of hockey icons to receive the country’s highest sporting honor.
Notably, for the second consecutive year, the selection committee has not recommended any cricketers for this top award, maintaining a trend that started after Mohammed Shami’s Arjuna win in 2023.
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Breaking New Ground in Yogasana
A historic moment for the 2025 awards is the nomination of Aarti Pal for the Arjuna Award. She is the first-ever athlete from the discipline of Yogasana to be recommended for this honor. As a reigning national and Asian champion, her inclusion signals the government’s commitment to recognizing traditional Indian disciplines that are now gaining global competitive traction.
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The 2025 Arjuna Award Nominees
The committee has recommended 24 athletes for the Arjuna Award across diverse disciplines. Here are the athletes nominated for their exceptional contributions to Indian sports:
- Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics)
- Mohammad Afzal (Athletics)
- Priyanka (Athletics)
- Narender Berwal (Boxing)
- Vidit Gujrathi (Chess)
- Divya Deshmukh (Chess)
- Dhanush Srikanth (Deaf Shooting)
- Pranati Nayak (Gymnastics)
- Rajkumar Pal (Hockey)
- Lalremsiami (Hockey)
- Surjeet Singh (Kabaddi)
- Pooja (Kabaddi)
- Nirmala Bhati (Kho-Kho)
- Rudransh Khandelwal (Para Shooting)
- Ekta Bhyan (Para Athletics)
- Padmanabh Singh (Polo)
- Arvind Singh (Rowing)
- Akhil Sheoran (Shooting)
- Mehuli Ghosh (Shooting)
- Sutirtha Mukherjee (Table Tennis)
- Sonam Malik (Wrestling)
- Aarti Pal (Yogasana)
- Treesa Jolly (Badminton)
- Gayatri Gopichand (Badminton)
These recommendations now await the final seal of approval from the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports before being presented by the President of India.