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Second only to the Khel Ratna Award in terms of esteem in Indian sports is the Arjuna Award, formally known as the Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games. Arjuna, a figure in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, is the inspiration for the award’s name. Krishna Das, an archer, was the first recipient of the Arjuna award.
Originally established in 1961 to recognise the nation’s top athletes, the award has undergone a number of changes and revisions since then. A new Dhyan Chand award for lifetime achievement was created in 2002 after the award’s scope was broadened to encompass all recognised disciplines in 1977. The award also includes indigenous games and categories for physically disabled individuals.
List of Arjuna Award Winners 2021
Hockey
- Vandana Katariya
- Rupinder Pal Singh
- Surender Kumar
- Monika
- Dilpreet Singh
- Mandeep Singh
- Shamsher Singh
- Lalit Kumar Upadhyay
- Amit Rohidas
- Birendra Lakra
- Vivek Sagar Prasad
- Gurjant Singh
- Varun Kumar
- Simranjeet Singh
- Sumit
- Nilakanta Sharma
- Hardik Singh
Other Winners
- Arpinder Singh (athletics)
- Vandana Katariya
- Bhavani Sundhararaman (fencing)
- Shikhar Dhawan (cricket)
- Abhishek Verma (shooting)
- Ankita Raina (tennis)
Notable Winners
Arpinder Singh – Triple Jumping
Arpinder Singh is a triple jumper who won the Arjuna Award in 2021. At the 2018 Asian Games, he took home the gold medal by covering 16.77 metres. In doing so, he became only the second Indian athlete to accomplish this feat. Earlier, at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, he had won a bronze medal as well.
Abhishek Verma – Shooting
Abhishek Verma won gold in the Men’s 10 metre air pistol at the 2019 Beijing World Cup. At the 2020 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, he won his second gold medal. He has also earned bronze in the Men’s 10m air pistol at Jakarta Palembang 2018. Abhishek Verma was at one time ranked #1 in the Air Pistol Category. Verma competed in the 2021 Olympic Games but could not win a medal.
Shikhar Dhawan – Cricket
Dhawan is one of the most prolific openers cricket has seen. He top scored for India in the 2013 and 2017’s Champions Trophy and 2015’s Cricket World Cup. He was adjudged the ‘Player of the Tournament’ in the 2013 Champions Trophy, becoming only the third Indian after Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar to win the award in an ICC tournament.
Ankita Raina – Tennis
Indian tennis player Ankita Ravinderkrishan Raina now holds the position of Indian women’s singles champion. While Raina only has one WTA Tour singles win and one WTA 125 doubles championship to her belt, she has won an impressive 11 ITF Circuit singles titles and 20 ITF Circuit doubles titles. Earlier this year, in April, she became the fifth Indian woman to break into the top 200 singles rankings. Aside from the 2016 South Asian Games, Raina has also won gold in the women’s singles and mixed doubles events at the 2018 Asian Games. There are only two women in India who have won a WTA-level title. Raina is one of them.
Mithali Raj – Cricket
In the game of cricket, Mithali Raj has a long list of accomplishments. When it comes to WODIs (Women’s One Day Internationals), she is the only female cricketer to score more than seven thousand runs.
Vandana Katariya
In the sport of field hockey, Vandana Katariya is known as one of the best in the country. She is an Indian national team forward. When India won bronze at the 2013 Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup, Vandana was India’s leading goal-scorer with five goals, the third-highest total of any player.
Conclusion
As India’s second-highest sporting accolade, the Arjuna Award is given to sportspersons who have excelled in both national and international competitions and possess leadership characteristics and a strong moral character. Every year since its inception in 1961, India’s President has presented the award to deserving athletes from a variety of sporting disciplines. In addition to the statue of Arjuna, a scroll, and a cash prize, each year’s honorees are given a bronze statue of Arjuna. In 2021, we saw 35 awardees from a variety of sporting fields.
