In a first, this year's National Sports Awards ceremony was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with most winners logging in from their respective places to hear their names being announced on August 29. The virtual ceremony was attended by President Ram Nath Kovind, Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, among other dignitaries. The event began with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju's address, followed by the award ceremony to honour country's bright athletes and coaches and various organisation working to promote sports in the country. The names of this year's Khel Ratna Award recipients were called out first, followed by Dronacharya Award, Arjuna Award, Dhyanchand Award. Some key names missing names missing from the awards ceremony were wrestler Vinesh Phogat and star Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma. While Vinesh Phigat skipped the award after testing positive for COVID-19, Rohit missed the cereminy because he is preparing for the IPL 2020 in the UAE.
12:17 (IST)
Thank you for joining us! Goodbye!
Thank you for tuning in to our live blog of National Sports Awards 2020 ceremony. Congratulations to all the winners. That's all from us... Till next time Tata!
President Kovind acknowledges how the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the sporting events across the country, even leading to the postponement of global events like Tokyo Olympics.
President Ram Nath Kovid's is addressing the virtual awards ceremony. He begins by congratulating all the winners. He points out the immense talent that the country has needed to excel in the field of sports.
Lakshya Institute and ONGC, Air Force Sports Control Board and International Institute of Sports Management are among the recipients of Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Purasakar 2020.
We begin with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. Currently players' achievements are being read out by the presenter. Mariyappan T, Rani Rampal and Manika Batra the three awardees are attending the ceremony virtually.
