National Sports Awards 2025 Announced: Key Winners List
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports declared the National Sports Awards 2025 on August 18, 2026, for the distinguished performances by individuals in different sporting events. A total of 17 sportspersons are being honoured by the ministry with the prestigious Arjuna Awards that include chess World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, badminton player Gayatri Gopichand, Grandmaster Vidit Gujurathi and athelete Tejaswin Shankar. The Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist boxer Narender and deaf rifle shooter Dhanush Srikanth are also in the list of awardees
The Arjuna Awards are being given to distinguished sportspersons for their extraordinary performance in sports and games.
Among the most distinguished awardees are,
The recognition of Divya Deshmukh follows her stellar performance in international chess competition and Gayatri Gopichand & Treesa Jolly have been recognized for their women’s doubles performance in badminton.
One of the significant features of the National Sports Awards 2025 announcement is that the Ministry of Sports did not declare any awardee for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
The Khel Ratna award is considered the highest sporting honour in India.
It recognizes the exceptional achievements of sports persons in the international competitions.
Mr. I Arumainayagam, a former football player who was part of the gold-winning team of India at the 1962 Asian Games, has been chosen for the Arjuna Award in Lifetime Achievement category.
He has been recognized due to his contribution to Indian football and his achievements in Indian teams’ successful campaign at the Asian Games.
There are several awards given by the government to recognize the efforts put forth by coaches for nurturing talent in sports.
The Dronacharya Award for best coaches of Sports and Games has been awarded to,
It recognizes those coaches who have played an important role in generating and nurturing the talents of their wards.
Pune based Army Paralympic Node has won the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2025.
This is given to corporate entities, organizations, whether public or private and NGOs for their contribution towards promotion and development of sports.
As per the statement from the Sports Ministry, the decision was made based on the recommendation of the Selection Committee headed by Justice (Retired) Arun Kumar Mishra who is a retired justice of the Supreme Court of India.
The committee evaluated the contributions made by athletes and other entities.
| Sr. No | Name of Sportsperon | Discipline |
| 1 | Tejaswin Shankar | Athletics |
| 2 | Muhammed Ajmal V | Athletics |
| 3 | Priyanka Goswami | Athletics |
| 4 | Treesa Jolly | Badminton |
| 5 | Pullela Gayatri Gopichand | Badminton |
| 6 | Narender | Boxing |
| 7 | Vidit Santosh Gujarathi | Chess |
| 8 | Divya Jitendra Deshmukh | Chess |
| 9 | Dhanush Srikanth | Deaf Shooting |
| 10 | Lalremsiami | Hockey |
| 11 | Rajkumar Pal | Hockey |
| 12 | Surjeet | Kabaddi |
| 13 | Pooja | Kabaddi |
| 14 | Rudransh Khandelwal | Para-Shooting |
| 15 | Ekta Bhyan | Para-Athletics |
| 16 | Arvind Singh | Rowing |
| 17 | Akhil Sheoran | Shooting |
| Sr. No | Name of Sportsperon | Discipline |
| 1 | I. Arumainayagam | Football |
Total: 1 sportsperson
| Sr. No | Name of Sportsperon | Discipline |
| 1 | Parveer Singh | Athletics |
| 2 | Chhote Lal Yadav | Boxing |
| 3 | Neha Nandkumar Chavan | Shooting |
Total: 3 coaches
| Sr. No | Name of Sportsperon | Discipline |
| 1 | Dharmendra Singh Yadav | Boxing |
| 2 | Virender Kumar | Wrestling |
Total: 2 coaches
| Sr. No | Name of Entity | Place |
| 1 | Army Paralympic Nod | Pune |
Total: 1 entity
No sportsperson selected
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