Ronjan Sodhi recommended for Khel Ratna,Virat Kohli for Arjuna award

Virat Kohli and shuttler PV Sindhu were on Tuesday recommended for the prestigious Arjuna award.

Trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi,the first Indian to win two back-to-back World Cup gold medals,was on Tuesday recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna,while star cricketer Virat Kohli was among the 14 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna award by the selection committee in New Delhi.

Rising badminton player P V Sindhu,who became the first Indian woman shuttler to clinch a bronze medal at the recent World Championships,was also in the list of 14 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna award,sources told PTI.

Apart from Sindhu,triple-jumper Renjith Maheshwary,who won a bronze medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games with a national record,and rising golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar were among the sportspersons picked for the Arjuna award this year by the selection committee headed by billiards legend Michael Ferreira.

Sodhi,who had a disastrous outing at the London Olympics last year,is a former world number one. He was a double trap gold-medallist at last year’s Asian Games besides being a silver-medallist at the Commonwealth Games.

Once his name is ratified by the the Sports Ministry,the 33-year-old,who was conferred the Arjuna award in 2009,will become the seventh shooter to be honoured with the Khel Ratna.

Interestingly,it is for the third consecutive year that a Khel Ratna award has gone to a shooter. Gagan Narang had been presented the award in 2011,followed by Vijay Kumar last year.

Vijay,a London Olympics silver medallist,was the joint winner along with wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt,who won a bronze at the same event.

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This year’s Arjuna awardees list features just one boxer,World Championship bronze medallist Kavita Chahal.

The list includes quite a few women with veteran squash player Joshna Chinappa,former hockey captain Saba Anjum,

paddler Mouma Das,wrestler Neha Rathi and shooter Rajkumari Rathore recommended for the award.

Not to forget archer Chekrovolu Swuro,who was part of the silver medal-winning team in the 2011 World Cup.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award: Ronjan Sodhi.

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The Arjuna awardees: Virat Kohli (Cricket),Chekrovolu Swuro (Archery),Renjith Maheshwary (Athletics),P V Sindhu (Badminton),Kavita Chahal (Boxing),Rupesh Shah (Snooker),Gaganjeet Bhullar (Golf),Saba Anjum (Hockey),Rajkumari Rathore (Shooting),Joshna Chinappa (Squash),Mouma Das (Table Tennis),Neha Rathi (Wrestling),Dharmendra Dalal (Wrestling),Amit Kumar Saroha (Parasports)

Khel Ratna will motivate me to do better: Sodhi

“Well I am very happy to receive this award. It is the third time my name has gone for this award. This is a big motivation for me to do better in future,” he said reacting to the development.

“Absolutely,any award is an encouragement. I have been competing in the international arena for the last four years and it has come in now,” Sodhi said.

Sodhi,however,doesn’t feel that the award vindicated his stature after all the criticism he had faced following his poor performance in last year’s London Olympics.

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“No,I don’t see any vindication. In Olympics I did my best. I have learnt a lot from that and this only encourages and motivates me to do better,” he said.

“It’s not that I have had a bad run or anything but I would say I was unlucky as I dropped some targets towards the third round and in sports these things happen. You can’t win every time but I am very happy with my performance over the last few years.”