New Delhi: Rifle shooter Gagan Narang was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil at a glittering function in the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan here Monday.
Narang was the highest medal winner for India in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and is the first Indian to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. The award carries a statuette, citation and cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh.
The 28-year-old Hyderabadi was unhappy for having been ignored twice for the honour in 2009 and 2010.
“I am happy now that I have finally got it. It is a great honour and a very special day,” Narang said. “The next goal is to perform well at the Olympics. I am working on my fitness. The pressure to do well is always there but I hope to come through.”
Nineteen sportsmen this year were awarded the Arjuna award. Not more than 15 Arjuna awards are given in any calendar year but keeping in view the performance of Indian athletes in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games last year, the limit was increased.
The award carries a statuette, citation and enhanced cash prize of Rs.5 lakh each.
Among the Arjuna awardees, Vikas Gowda (athletics), Zaheer Khan (cricket), Ashish Kumar (gymnastics) and Somdev Devvarman (tennis) could not attend the ceremony.
Somdev (US Open in New York), and Vikas (World Athletics Championships, South Korea) could not attend because of their participation in tournaments abroad while Zaheer is in London, and Ashish is in Essex (England) training for the World Cup.
The awards:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: Gagan Narang (Shooting)
Arjuna Awards: Zaheer Khan (Cricket, Rahul Banerjee (Archery), Preeja Sreedharan (Athletics), Jwala Gutta (Badminton), Suranjoy Singh (Boxing), Sunil Chhetri (Football), Rajpal Singh (Hockey), Rakesh Kumar (Kabaddi), Tejaswini Sawant (Shooting), Virdhawal Khade (Swimming), Ashish Kumar (Gymnastics), Somdev Devvarman (Tennis), Ravinder Singh (Wrestling), Ravi Kumar (Weightlifting), Vikas Gowda (Athletics), Sandhya Rani (Wushu), Prasanta Karmakar (Swimming), Sanjay Kumar (Volleyball), Tejaswini (Kabaddi).
Dronacharya Awards: Inukurthi Venkateshwara Rao (Boxing), Devender Kumar Rathore (Gymnastics), Ramphal (Wrestling), Kuntal Roy (Athletics), Rajinder Singh (Hockey).
Dhyan Chand Awards: Shabbir Ali (Football), Sushil Kohli (Swimming), Rajkumar (Wrestling)
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards: Late Col. Balwant Singh Sandhu (Life Time Achievement Award [Posthumously]), Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu (Land Adventure), Mamta Sodha (Land Adventure) and Dilip Donde (Water Adventure).
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar: Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, N. Ramachadran of Squash Academy. (IANS)