The Government of India, recently, announced the full list of National Sports Awards 2018 winners on the official website of Press Information Bureau (PIB). The National Sports Awards are awarded to those sportspersons who have excelled in a particular sports discipline in the past year. In recognisance of their excellence, the awards are distributed in six categories.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Dronacharya Award, Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award, Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy are the six different categories in the awards are awarded. Not just the sportspersons, but the prizes are also presented to their coaches! Manika Batra, Table Tennis Sensation, Gets Arjuna Award 2018; Sad About Her Coach Being Snubbed for Dronacharya Honour.

The highest honour a sportsperson can be awarded in India is Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. This year, it will be Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, and weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu will be presented with the highest sporting honour.

The Indian sportspersons had a great time this year as they earned accolades in sporting events worldwide. You can find the complete list of sportspersons and their coaches here, who are going to be awarded this year.

India has had an eventful year with two multi-sports tournament taking place - Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. With 66 medals including 26 Gold, 20 Silver and 20 Bronze, Indian contingent secured a third place in the CWG 2018 medal tally and team standings. As for Asian Games, India recorded a historic number of medals at Asiad - a total of 69, which included 15 Gold, 24 Silver and 30 Bronze. A majority of winners at National Sports Awards 2018 are medal winners at the two quadrennial events. National Sports Day 2018: Khel Ratna & Arjuna Award Ceremony Shifted to Another Date Due to Asian Games at Jakarta.

Beginning with Mirabai Chanu, the 24-year-old weightlifter had bagged the gold medal at Commonwealth Games in women's 48 kg category with a world record to her name. She is receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2018 along with talismanic cricket captain of Team India, Virat Kohli. The 29-year-old batsman had missed out on Khel Ratna award to Sakshi Malik, P.V. Sindhu and Deepa Karmakar for their excellent show at the Rio Olympic Games and in 2017 to former India hockey captain Sardar Singh and para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia. However, this time around the world No.1 Test batsman as per the ICC rankings is all set to add Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award to his cabinet full of rewards and accolades. Mirabai Chanu Wins Gold Medal in Weightlifting, Breaks Record at CWG, India on Top of GC 2018 Medal Table.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2018

S. No. Name of the Sportsperson Discipline
1. Ms S. Mirabai Chanu Weightlifting
2. Shri Virat Kohli Cricket

The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games is next award in line. It is presented to coaches and mentors and is the highest coaching honour of the Republic of India. This list stoked controversy after the national compound archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja's name was dropped after it came to light that he had served a one-year ban following an incident of indiscipline during the 2015 World University Games in Korea.

Dronacharya Award 2018

S. No. Name of the Coach Discipline
1. Subedar Chenanda Achaiah Kuttappa Boxing
2. Shri Vijay Sharma Weightlifting
3. Shri A. Srinivasa Rao Table Tennis
4. Shri Sukhdev Singh Pannu Athletics
5. Shri Clarence Lobo Hockey (Life Time)
6. Shri Tarak Sinha Cricket (Life Time)
7. Shri Jiwan Kumar Sharma Judo (Life Time)
8. Shri V.R. Beedu Athletics (Life Time)

For Arjuna Awards 2018, the star attraction is CWG and Asiad gold medalist javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra. 18-year-old sprinter Hima Das who was incredible at the Asian Games is also going to be awarded Arjuna Awards. Indian batswoman Smriti Mandhana, tennis player Rohan Bopanna, paddler Manika Batra, wushu player Pooja Kadian, shooter Rahi Sarnobat and more feature in the list.

Arjuna Award 2018

S. No. Name of the Sportsperson Discipline
1. Shri Neeraj Chopra Athletics
2. Naib Subedar Jinson Johnson Athletics
3. Ms Hima Das Athletics
4. Ms Nelakurthi Sikki Reddy Badminton
5. Subedar Satish Kumar Boxing
6. Ms Smriti Mandhana Cricket
7. Shri Shubhankar Sharma Golf
8. Shri Manpreet Singh Hockey
9. Ms Savita Hockey
10. Col. Ravi Rathore Polo
11. Ms Rahi Sarnobat Shooting
12. Shri Ankur Mittal Shooting
13. Ms Shreyasi Singh Shooting
14. Ms Manika Batra Table Tennis
15. Shri G. Sathiyan Table Tennis
16. Shri Rohan Bopanna Tennis
17. Shri Sumit Wrestling
18. Ms Pooja Kadian Wushu
19. Shri Ankur Dhama Para-Athletics
20. Shri Manoj Sarkar Para-Badminton

Named after the greatest Hockey player, Dhyan Chand, the Dhyan Chand Award, officially known as Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games is the lifetime achievement sporting honour of the Republic of India.

Dhyan Chand Award 2018

S. No. Name of the Sportsperson Discipline
1. Shri Satyadev Prasad Archery
2. Shri Bharat Kumar Chetri Hockey
3. Ms Bobby Aloysius Athletics
4. Shri Chougale Dadu Dattatray Wrestling

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2018

S. No. Category Name of the entity
 1. Identification and Nurturing of Budding & Young Talent Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited
 2. Encouragement to Sports through Corporate Social Responsibility JSW Sports
 3. Sports for Development Isha Outreach

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2017-18

Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar

As per PIB website, the awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organised function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 25th September 2018. Apart from a medal and a citation, Rajiv Gandhi 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 25, 2018 12:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).