Khel Ratna for shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu

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New Delhi, Aug 10: World champion shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu has been chosen for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2006, an official announcement said yesterday night.

The government also named 14 sportspersons for the Arjuna Awards 2006, including archer Jayanta Talukdar, athlete K Mathew Binu, B Chetan Anand (badminton), Subhajit Saha (table tennis) and chess player Pentala Harikrishna.

Others chosen for the Arjuna Awards were boxer Vijender, Ms Anjum Chopra (cricket), Ms Jyoti Sunita Kullu (hockey), Vijay Kumar (shooting), Saurav Ghosal (squash), Ms Geeta Rani (weightlifting), Ms Geetika Jakhar (wrestling), Navneet Gautam (kabaddi) and Rohit Bhakar (badminton-disabled category).

The Dhyan Chand Awards for the year 2007 for lifetime achievement in sports were given to Varinder Singh (hockey), Shamsher Singh (kabaddi) and Rajendra Singh (wrestling).

The Dronacharya Awards for the year 2006 for outstanding coaches went to R D Singh (athletics, Paralympic Games), Damodaran Chandralal (boxing) and Koneru Ashok (chess), the announcement said.

The awards will be given away by President Pratibha Patil on August 29 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, it added.

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, comprising a cash award of Rs five lakhs, a scroll of honour and a medal, is given every year to one outstanding sportsperson in recognition of his or her "spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports." The Arjuna Awards comprise a cash award of Rs three lakhs, a statuette and a scroll of honour and are given annually to not more than 15 sportspersons in recognition of outstanding achievements at the international level and for showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.

The Dhyan Chand Awards include a cash award of Rs three lakhs, a plaque and a scroll of honour and are give annually to not more than three sportspersons for their contribution to sports by their performance and continued contribution even after retirement from active sports career.

The Dronacharya Awards include a cash award of Rs three lakhs, a plaque and a scroll of honour and are given annually to not more than five coaches for outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis to enable sportspersons to excel in international events.

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the Arjuna and the Dhyan Chand Awards were decided upon by a selection committee headed this year by former Test cricket captain Kapil Dev.

The selection committee for the Dronacharya Awards was headed by former All England badminton champion Prakash Padukone.

Both committees had met here yesterday to finalise the awards, the announcement added.

UNI