The awards, like every year, copped a fair share of controversies with wrestler Bajrang Punia’s threat to take legal action over Khel Ratna snub being the most prominent one. he eventually backed down after meeting Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
Before this, the Sports Ministry struck off compound archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja’s name from the list of Dronacharya awardees due to a past case of indiscipline. Teja resigned from his position to express his angst.
The Dronacharya Award was presented to eight coaches this year, including cricket mentor Tarak Sinha and 39-year-old boxing coach C A Kuttappa, who was credited by Vijender Singh for his historic Olympic bronze in 2008.
The Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime sporting achievement was given to four former athletes.
Among the notable absentees was cricketer Smriti Mandhana, who was to receive the Arjuna award but is currently with the Indian women’s team on its tour of Sri Lanka.
List of Awardees:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Virat Kohli and Mirabai Chanu.
Arjuna Awards: Neeraj Chopra, Jinson Johnson and Hima Das (Athletics); N Sikki Reddy (Badminton); Satish Kumar (Boxing); Smriti Mandhana (Cricket); Shubhankar Sharma (Golf); Manpreet Singh, Savita (Hockey), Ravi Rathore (Polo), Rahi Sarnobat, Ankur Mittal, Shreyasi Singh (Shooting); Manika Batra, G Sathiyan (Table Tennis); Rohan Bopanna (Tennis); Sumit (Wrestling); Pooja Kadian (Wushu); Ankur Dhama (Para-Athletics); Manoj Sarkar (Para-Badminton).
Dronacharya Awards: C A Kuttappa (Boxing); Vijay Sharma (Weightlifting); A Srinivasa Rao (Table Tennis); Sukhdev Singh Pannu (Athletics); Clarence Lobo (Hockey, Lifetime); Tarak Sinha (Cricket, Lifetime); Jiwan Kumar Sharma (Judo, Lifetime); V R Beedu (Athletics, Lifetime).
Dhyan Chand Awards: Satyadev Prasad (Archery); Bharat Kumar Chetry (Hockey); Bobby Aloysius (Athletics); Chougale Dadu Dattatray (Wrestling).
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2018:
1. Identification and Nurturing of Budding & Young Talent: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited.
2. Encouragement to Sports through Corporate Social Responsibility: JSW Sports
3. Sports for Development: Isha Outreach
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2017-18: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.