World Cup-winning chess player Divya Deshmukh, decathlete and high jumper Tejaswin Shankar and shuttler Gayatri Gopichand were among 17 sportspersons named for the prestigious Arjuna Award on Tuesday.
The Sports Ministry did not name any sportsperson for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award this year.
Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, Gayatri’s women’s doubles partner Treesa Jolly, Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver-medallist boxer Narender and deaf rifle shooter Dhanush Srikanth were also included in the Arjuna Award list.
Former footballer I Arumainayagam, who won gold at the 1962 Asian Games, was conferred the Arjuna Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Divya, India’s fourth female chess Grandmaster, earned the title after winning the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia.
Tejaswin recently created history by winning India’s first decathlon medal at the Commonwealth Games, securing bronze in Glasgow.
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