Hockey star Hardik Singh nominated for Khel Ratna award

The Indian men's hockey team vice-captain Hardik Singh is the lone name nominated for the 2025 Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award.

Hardik has been a vital member of the Indian hockey setup and was a part of both the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medal winning teams.

An ace midfielder who excels in controlling the pace of the game, Hardik has appeared in 164 matches for India and scored 12 goals in the process.

Last year, a total of four athletes – Manpreet Singh, Gukesh Dommaraju, Manu Bhaker, and Praveen Kumar – were honoured with the Khel Ratna award.

While Hardik is the only nominee for the Khel Ratna this year, a total of 24 athletes have been nominated for the Arjuna award.

This includes the young chess sensation Divya Deshmukh, who clinched the women's chess world cup title earlier this year along with yogasana athlete Aarti Pal.

The others to have been nominated for Arjuna award include Tejaswin Shankar, Vidit Gujrathi, Lalremsiami, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand and others.

List of nominees

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna: Hardik Singh

Arjuna Award: Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics), Priyanka (Athletics), Narender (Boxing), Vidit Gujrathi (Chess), Divya Deshmukh (Chess), Dhanush Srikanth (Deaf Shooting), Pranati Nayak (Gymnastics), Rajkumar Pal (Hockey), Surjeet (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 (Yoga), Treesa Jolly (Badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (Badminton), Lalremsiami (Hockey), Mohammed Afsal (Athletics), Pooja (Kabaddi)