Divya, Tejaswin, Gayatri Gopichand named for Arjuna Awards

Chess World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, decathlete Tejaswin Shankar and badminton player Gayatri Gopichand are among 17 sportspersons named for the Arjuna Award. The Sports Ministry did not nominate anyone for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award this year

New Delhi: World Cup winning chess player Divya Deshmukh, decathlete and high jumper Tejaswin Shankar and shuttler Gayatri Gopichand were among the 17 sportspersons named for the prestigious Arjuna Award on Tuesday.

The Sports Ministry, however, did not name any athlete for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award this year.

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Also on the Arjuna Award nomination list are Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, Gayatri Gopichand’s women’s doubles partner Treesa Jolly, Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver-medallist boxer Narender, and young deaf rifle shooter Dhanush Srikanth.

1962 Asian Games gold medallist footballer I Arumainayagam was conferred the Arjuna Award for ‘Lifetime Achievement’.

Divya, India’s fourth female chess Grandmaster, earned the title after winning the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia. Tejaswin Shankar recently won a historic decathlon bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, becoming the first Indian to do so in the quadrennial event.