Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker 's name has not been excluded from the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award list and the final names for the National Sports Awards have not been finalised yet, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) sources said on Tuesday. "There is no list finalised for National Sport's Awards yet so there is no point of exclusion of name of any player," an MYAS source said. Earlier in the day, Manu Bhaker's father, Ram Kishan Bhaker expressed his disappointment that her daughter was not shortlisted for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
"It was very shocking to see that Manu Bhaker wasn't considered by the committee for the Khel Ratna Award. Many former players tried to talk on this but the officials said that those people won't be eligible for the honour who haven't applied for it," Ram Kishan Bhaker said in a self-made video.
He said there should be a sports legend included in a committee who decides to give this honour.
"There are many sports legends like PT Usha, Abhinav Bindra, Anjum Gopi George, and Anjali Bhagwat. Such players should be selected who have knowledge of sports. The country knows that Manu has done such a great feat that the whole country was proud of," he said.
Manu Bhaker opened India's medal tally in the Olympics after she secured third place in the women's individual 10m air pistol event, becoming the first-ever woman shooter to win an Olympic medal for India.
She made history for India in the Paris 2024 Olympics by securing two bronze medals in the shooting event. Manu with Sarabjot Singh secured bronze in the 10M Air Pistol Mixed team event.
The duo of Manu and Sarabjot defeated South Korea's Lee Wonho and Oh Ye Jin 16-10 in the bronze medal play-off match. Both Manu and Sarabjot shot consistently with regular 10s in the series against the South Koreans to claim India's second medal.
Sarabjot and Manu secured the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol (mixed team) event, which was India's first-ever shooting team medal.
In her final event, she narrowly missed out on the historic grand treble and finished fourth in the women's 25m pistol shooting event.