Heena, Ankur Mittal nominated for Khel Ratna by shooting federation
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Monday recommended recently-crowned Asian Champion Bajrang Punia and last year's Asian Games gold-medallist Vinesh Phogat for the country's highest sporting honour -- the Rajeev Khel Ratna award.
"They (Bajrang and Vinesh) have been recommended for Khel Ratna by the WFI after both of them submitted their applications," a WFI official confirmed.
World No 1 Bajrang has recently stamped his authority at the Asian Championship in Xi'an, China by clinching a gold medal in the men's 65kg freestyle event.
Last year, the 25-year-old grappler had bagged the yellow metal at the Jakarta Asian Games too.
Vinesh could only win a bronze at the recent Asian Championship, but considering that she fought in a new weight category of 53kg, it was seen as a good achievement.
In 2018, the 24-year-old became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Asian Games.
Besides Bajrang and Vinesh, WFI has recommended names of Rahul Aware, Harpreet Singh, Divya Kakran and Pooja Dhanda for the Arjuna award.
Dhanda, 25, had claimed a bronze at the World Championships last year after a silver to her credit at the Commonwealth Games.
The 21-year-old Kakran ended with a bronze at the Asian Championship. The youngster had a third-place finish both at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games last year.
Aware was the gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games, while Harpreet Singh won a silver at the Asian Championship on Sunday.
Last year, Bajrang had cried foul after he was denied the Khel Ratna and instead cricketer Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were conferred the top honours.
Bajrang, who had threatened to move court due to this, would be hoping to make the cut this time around.
The WFI has also recommended Virender Kumar, Sujeet Maan, Narendra Kumar and Vikram Kumar for the Dronacharya award, meant for high-performing coaches.
Bheem Singh and Jai Prakash's names have been sent for the Dhyanchand award for lifetime achievement.
The national shooting federation on Monday recommended pistol ace Heena Sidhu and trap shooter Ankur Mittal for the Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Anjum Moudgil (rifle), Shahzar Rizvi (pistol) and Om Prakash Mitharwal (pistol) have been nominated for the Arjuna Awards.
The first Indian pistol shooter to reach number one in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) world rankings, the 29-year-old Sidhu is a multiple gold medallist at the World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth and Asian Championships.
She also held the world record in the 10 metre air pistol event with a final score of 203.8.
Mittal has been one of the most consistent Indian shooters in shotgun, having won silver and gold medals at the World Cups in 2017.
The double trap exponent continued his impressive showing the following year, bagging gold medals at the Asian Championships and Commonwealth Championships. He then claimed silver at the ISSF World Shotgun Championship and became the world No 1 in double trap.
Moudgil was the first Indian to secure a quota place in shooting for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when she won the women's air rifle silver in style in the World Championship last September.
Having lost his place in the national squad despite winning World Cup gold and silver medals -- with a world record to boot -- in 2018, Rizvi fought his way back in for the World Cups in Beijing and Munich.
The 23-year-old Mitharwal was a smashing success in the last World Championship, winning the men's 50m gold medal in Changwon, Korea.
