No Khel Ratna for Krishna Poonia this year
Sports ministry decides to go with awards committee's recommendation that shooter Ronjan Sodhi is the best candidate.
Krishna Poonia's plea to be considered for the country's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, has been rejected. For the second time in a week, the discus thrower was at the sports ministry for more than five hours on Tuesday, trying to plead her case but it proved futile. The ministry has stuck to the recommendation that shooter Ronjan Singh Sodhi be awarded the Khel Ratna this year.
Poonia's argument was based on the fact that in 2003, shooter Anjali Bhagwat was jointly given the Khel Ratna after she was initially ignored. Saying Anjali finally shared the award with athlete K.M. Beenamol in 2003, Poonia wanted to split this year's honour with Sodhi.
It is learnt that sports minister Jitendra Singh consulted his team before deciding that Sodhi's recommendation for the Khel Ratna be upheld.