Yesterday, the Indian Government announced the winners of National Sports Award 2018. Mirabai Chanu, Virat Kohli, Smriti Mandhana, Neeraj Chopra, Hima Das and many others received honours. Table tennis sensation, Manika Batra who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018 and a silver medal at the Asian Games 2018 is also amongst the list of winners. However, her joy was short-lived as her coach Sandeep Gupta is not amongst the list of winners for the Dronacharya Award.

While speaking to the press during an event in Delhi Manika said, “Yes I wanted him to get the award. But it is the government's decision and we have to respect that. I will work harder so he gets it next time." Her mother Sushma Batra is also partially happy for her. The 23-year-old paddler also promised that she will keep working hard for the Khel Ratna, which is touted to be country’s highest honour for a sportsperson. Check out the full list of National Sports Award 2018 winners here. 

Manika Gupta’s coach was also upset about the fact of being overlooked for the honour. According to him behind every Arjuna award winner, there is a coach who has put in a lot of hard work for years together. Sandeep Gupta, however, was happy for his student who bagged the Khel Ratna 2018. “My problem is with the number of Dronacharya awardees every year. It should be at par with Arjuna winners. Behind every Arjuna winner, there is years of hard work put in by a coach. It must be acknowledged,” said Sandeep Gupta.

The National Sports Awards 2018 ceremony will be held on September 21, 2018, at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The awardees will get their honours from the President of India. Apart from a medal and a citation,  Khel Ratna Awardee will receive a cash prize of Rs. 7.5 lakh. Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 21, 2018 09:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).