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President Droupadi Murmu Honours Four Athletes with Arjuna Awards

New Delhi, November 13 (ANI): President Droupadi Murmu presented the Arjuna Award, 2025 to four athletes, including kabaddi players Pooja and Surjeet, and hockey players Lalremsiami and Rajkumar Pal, in recognition of their outstanding achievements in their respective sports.

Kabaddi Athletes Recognised

Pooja was honoured for her achievements in kabaddi. She won medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Sixth Asian Kabaddi Championship. Surjeet was also conferred with the Arjuna Award, 2025, for his achievements in kabaddi. He won medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Busan Asian Kabaddi Championship.

Hockey Excellence

In hockey, Lalremsiami received the Arjuna Award in recognition of her contributions to India's medal-winning performances at major international tournaments, including the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Asian Champions Trophy. Hockey player Rajkumar Pal was also presented with the Arjuna Award, 2025, for his outstanding achievements in the sport. He won medals at the Paris Olympics and the Hulunbuir Asian Champions Trophy.

National Sports Awards Context

The National Sports Awards are given every year to recognise and reward excellence in sports. Based on the recommendations of the Selection Committee chaired by a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra, the Government has decided to confer awards on the following sportspersons, coaches and entities under various categories.

The athletes who received award are: Tejaswin Shankar (athletics), Muhammad Ajmal Variyathodi (athletics), Priyanka Goswami (athletics), Treesa Jolly (badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (badminton), Narender (boxing), Vidit Santosh Gujarathi (chess) Divya Jitendra Deshmukh (chess), Dhanush Srikanth (deaf shooting), Lalremsiami (hockey), Rajkumar Pal (hockey), Surjeet (kabaddi), Pooja (kabaddi), Rudransh Khandelwal (para-shooting), Ekta Bhyan (para-shooting), Arvind Singh (rowing) and Akhil Sheoran (shooting).

The Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2025 is given to players who have contributed to sports by their performance and continue to contribute to the promotion of sports even after they retire from active sporting careers. Former Indian footballer and coach Arumainayagam (Football) also recieved the Arjuna Award (lifetime).

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