Watch: At the National Sports Awards Ceremony, Arm-Less Archer Sheetal Devi Draws Rousing Applause
On Tuesday, the best-performing athletes of India were conferred with the national sports awards by President DroupadiMurmu in a regal ceremony where cricketer Mohammed Shami and para-archer Sheetal Devi walked in to rapturous applause at the RashtrapatiBhawan. Shuttlers Chirag Shetty and SatwiksairajRankireddy were chosen for the coveted Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award for a breakout 2023, during which they won their maiden Asian Games gold—a first for India in badminton—while also clinching the Asian Championships title and the Indonesia Open Super 1000 title.
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The duo is currently playing in the Malaysia Open Super 1000 and therefore skipped the function.
Usually the awards ceremony, held on August 29 to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, was deferred because of the Hangzhou Asian Games from September 23 until October 8 last year.