Paris Olympics medalist Manu Bhaker’s name has been removed from the list of candidates for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honour. The 12-member National Sports Festival Committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice V. Ramasubramam, did not recommend the gunman’s name for the prestigious award.
While the sports ministry claimed that Manu Bhakar had not applied for the award, Manu Bhakar’s father Ram Kishan said he applied for the honour, but received no response from the committee.
Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and para-athlete Praveen Kumar were among the nominees for the Khel Ratna award.
Ram Kishan said in an interview with India Today: “If you want awards, what’s the point of winning two medals in one Olympics?”
“The decision is made by one government official, but the committee members remain silent and do not express their opinion. I don’t understand. Is this the way to encourage athletes?” her father added.
“We applied for this award, but we haven’t heard anything from the committee. Why would parents encourage their children to play? They should encourage their children to become government IRS employees,” he said. spoke.
However, sports ministry officials said the final list is yet to be processed.
“The final list will be published and we are working to finalize it in the next few days. It should be published. This is a recommendation and the final list is always subject to ministerial approval. A meeting with the sports community will likely be held in committee on Wednesday, the minister said.
Manu Bakel was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2020. Notably, Mohammed Shami was awarded the Arjuna Award earlier this year, even though the cricketer had not applied for it. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) intervened and pushed forward with his case, after which the National Sports Awards Committee gave approval to Sumoto.
Manu Baker led India’s show at the Paris Olympics. The Asian nation won six medals, one short of the record set at the 2012 London Games. Manu won two bronze medals. One in the women’s 10m air pistol event and the other in the mixed 10m pistol event with Sarabjyot Singh.
Manu, who was the face of failure for the Indian shooting team at the Tokyo Olympics, bounced back strongly at the Paris Games and won two medals. She recently slammed trolls who criticized her for wearing her Olympic medal at every promotional event she attended following her Olympic success. .
