Fruit of their labour

President of India confers four Khel Ratna Awards, 15 Arjuna Awards and six Dronacharya Awards on meritorious sportspersons and coaches. Sabi Hussain talks with four prominent winners to find out what they are gunning for next...

New Delhi, august 29 

Rio Olympics medallists — shuttler PV Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik — gymnast Dipa Karmakar and shooter Jitu Rai were conferred the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awards — the country's highest sporting honour — here on Monday. President Pranab Mukherjee presented the awards amid thunderous applause at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of National Sports Day. This was the first time that four athletes were chosen for Khel Ratna. All the Khel Ratna awardees received a medal, certificate and cash prize of Rs. 7.5 lakh each. The President also gave away the Dronacharya awards to six coaches and the Arjuna awards to 15 sportspersons. 

List of Awardees: 

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: PV Sindhu (badminton), Dipa Karmakar (gymnastics), Jitu Rai (shooting) and Sakshi Malik (wrestling).

Dronacharya Award: Nagapuri Ramesh (athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (boxing), Raj Kumar Sharma (cricket), Bishweshwar Nandi (gymnastics), S Pradeep Kumar (swimming, lifetime) and Mahabir Singh (wrestling, lifetime).

Arjuna Award: Rajat Chauhan (archery), Lalita Babar (athletics), Sourav Kothari (billiards and snooker), Shiva Thapa (boxing), Ajinkya Rahane (cricket), Subrata Paul (football), Rani (hockey), VR Raghunath (hockey), Gurpreet Singh (shooting), Apurvi Chandela (shooting), Soumyajit Ghosh (table tennis), Vinesh Phogat (wrestling), Amit Kumar (wrestling), Sandeep Singh Mann (para-athletics), Virender Singh (wrestling, deaf).

Dhyan Chand Award: Satti Geetha (athletics), Sylvanus Dung Dung (hockey), Rajendra Pralhad Shelke (rowing).

Right now I am just enjoying the moment, says Sindhu 

Life has changed a lot, I've become the centre of attraction,” gushed PV Sindhu, the first Indian female athlete to win a silver medal at the Olympics. The Hyderabad girl understands the enormity of her achievement and wants to soak in all the appreciation and adulation. “It's time to celebrate. When I won my first medal (a bronze) at the World Championships in 2013, Gopi sir told me that after achieving your goal, you should enjoy the moment. That's what I am doing.” Even as she's basking in the glory of her silver medal, she has already set her sights on her next goal — a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Games.  “Obviously, that's the target. I need to carry on the momentum and keep performing consistently. Hard work is the key, need to have patience and dedication,” she said. Asked if she could look to train elsewhere in the future, Sindhu said she can't even imagine herself taking such a step. “I won't leave Gopi sir, that's for sure. Whatever I am today is because of him and my parents. He is my biggest inspiration and guiding force. I will continue to train under him,” she said.

People believe in me, I can win medal at Tokyo: Dipa

In our country, all the appreciation and rewards generally go to the medallists. So, it's heartwarming to see Dipa Karmakar getting the same appreciation as PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik, the only two medallists from the Rio Games. The Tripura girl, who has become a household name after her heroics in Rio, is pretty overwhelmed by all this and wants to return with a medal from the next Olympics. “I haven't won a medal, but I am getting a lot of support. This shows people believe in my abilities, they think I can bring a medal from the next Olympics. I will practise hard and give my best to win a gold medal in Tokyo,” said Dipa. “I will focus on other vault events, too, to increase my difficulty level. I've almost perfected the Produnova and the Tsukahara vaults, now I need to work harder on other vaults,” she added. Her coach Bisheshwar Nandi said he would try and arrange an exposure trip for Dipa to the US and other countries good in gymnastics. “Our immediate target is to do well in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. I am planning a training stint for Dipa in the US. We will sit down and prepare a detailed roadmap,” he said.

Rio was disappointing, I will make up for it in Tokyo: Jitu

Jitu Rai was crestfallen after failing to win a medal at Rio. The Khel Ratna award has brought some cheer to the talented shooter. “It's a big award for me. This will motivate me to continue working towards my goal — a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said Jitu. “I am really sad about my Rio campaign. I had high hopes from myself, but I disappointed everyone. There wasn't any shortcoming in my training, it's just that the big occasion got the better of me. I would like to take the blame for my below-par show. I have gained a lot from this experience. I have started practising for the World Cup Finals in October.” While confirming that he would continue shooting in both the 10m and the 50m events, he said he would look to hire a personal coach to give his best in Tokyo. “I'll request NRAI and SAI to provide me a personal coach, that's the way I want to prepare for Tokyo. I won't be comfortable working with a foreign coach, so I would look to hire an Indian shooting coach,” he said.

Wrestlers will perform much better in Tokyo: Vinesh

The Rashtrapati Bhavan reverberated with a thunderous applause when wrestler Vinesh Phogat rolled in on a wheelchair to receive the Arjuna Award. “The honour matters a lot, that's the reason why I've come to receive the award despite being on the wheelchair,” said Phogat. The Haryana wrestler, who had to undergo a knee surgery after she suffered an injury during her quarterfinal bout at Rio, said the female wrestlers would do a lot better at the Tokyo Olympics. “Our wrestling has improved a lot. This time three female wrestlers went to the Olympics and one brought a medal for the country. We will try to qualify in six weight categories and win at least three to four medals in Tokyo,” said Phogat. Lalita Babar, who finished an impressive tenth in the 3000m steeplechase at Rio, said they could make the next grade provided there was a better competition at home. “We will do better if we get better competition at home,” said Babar. Talking about the African athletes, Babar said: “We train harder than them and are more disciplined but they are naturally gifted.”