Khel Ratna for Gagan Narang, Arjuna Award for Zaheer
Ace Indian shooter Gagan Narang, who notched up four gold medals at last year's Commonwealth Games, is all set to be conferred with the country's highest sporting honour - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: July 22, 2011 02:46 pm IST
Ace Indian shooter Gagan Narang, who notched up four gold medals at last year's Commonwealth Games, is all set to be conferred with the country's highest sporting honour - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - after being recommended for the honour by the awards selection committee on Friday.
28-year-old rifle shooter, Narang, who was the first Indian marksman to qualify for next year's London Olympics with a bronze in the World Championships last year, had been disgruntled at being "ignored" for the award last year. "Gagan Narang has been recommended for the Khel Ratna this year," a source in the awards selection committee told PTI.
Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has been picked for the Arjuna award. The 32-year-old fast bowler, who is currently in England for the ongoing Test series, has taken 271 wickets in cricket's longer format at an average of 31.94.
"The recommended names for the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awardees have been sent to the Sports Ministry and it will be oficially announced after being approved by the Ministry," the source said.
Zaheer has 273 one-day wickets at an average of 28.84. The last time a male cricketer got the Arjuna award was 2009 when Gautam Gambhir was picked for the honour.
The other Arjuna awardees this year include Indian football captain and striker Sunil Chettri, rising tennis star Somdev Devvarman and ace badminton player Jwala Gutta. Somdev had struck a golden double last year by finishing on top in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games singles events.
Complete list for Arjuna Award
Cricket - Zaheer Khan
Archery - Rahul Bannerjee
Athletics - Preeja Sreedharan
Athletics - Vijas Gowda
Gymnastics - Ashish Kumar
Kabaddi - Rakesh Kumar, Tejaswini Bai
Hockey - Rajpal Singh
Volley ball - Sanjay kumar
Footbal - Sunil Chhetri
Weight lifting - Ravi Kumar
Wrestling - Ravindra Singh
Boxing - Suronjoy
Batminton- Jwala Gutta
Swimming - Virdhaval Khade
Shooting - Tejaswini Sawant
Wushu - Sandhya Rani Devi
Tennis - Somdev Devvarman
Disabled - Prashant Karmakar