New Delhi, Jan 9 (UNI) President Droupadi Murmu conferred the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2023 at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.

The awards were given to sportspersons, entities, and coaches in recognition of their exceptional contributions to sports and games.

Renowned fast bowler Mohammed Shami received the prestigious Arjuna Award, India's second-highest sporting honour, in recognition of his outstanding performance.

A total of 26 sports personalities were honoured with the Arjuna Awards for their outstanding achievements in the field of sports in 2023. Among the recipients were chess player R Vaishali, archers Ojas Pravin Deotale and Aditi Gopichand Swami, golfer Diksha Dagar, and Kabaddi players Pawan Kumar and Ritu Negi.

Hockey players Krishan Bahadur Pathak and P Sushila Chanu, Kho-Kho player Nasreen, Lawn Bowls player Pinki, Shooters Aishwary Pratap Singh and Esha Singh, Squash player Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, Table Tennis player Ayhika Mukherjee, Wrestler Sunil Kumar and Antim, Wushu player N Roshibina Devi, Blind Cricketer Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy, Para Archer Sheetal Devi and Para Canoeing player Prachi Yadav were among those received the Arjuna Awards.

The prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for 2023 was presented to shuttlers Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty and Rankireddy Satwik Sai Raj. Dronacharya Awards were conferred to coaches including wrestling coach Lalit Kumar, chess coach R. B. Ramesh, para-athletics coach Mahaveer Prasad Saini, hockey coach Shivendra Singh, and others.

The Dhyan Chand Awards for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games were presented to Manjusha Kanwar for badminton, Vineet Kumar Sharma for hockey, and Kavitha Selvaraj for Kabaddi.

Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur and other dignitaries were present during the award ceremony.

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