National Sports Awards 2025 winners list, Arjuna Award recipients, Dronacharya Award winners and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar details for government exam preparation.
National Sports Awards 2025 Announced by the Government
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2025 on 18 August 2026, recognising outstanding sportspersons, coaches and organisations for their contribution to Indian sports. The awards are an important part of India’s sports recognition system and are particularly relevant for students preparing for government examinations because questions related to awards, sports personalities, ministries and national institutions frequently appear in competitive exams.
17 Sportspersons Selected for the Arjuna Award
A total of 17 sportspersons have been selected for the Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2025. The award recognises good performance over the previous four years along with qualities such as leadership, sportsmanship and discipline. The 2025 list represents a broad range of sporting disciplines, including athletics, badminton, boxing, chess, hockey, kabaddi, shooting, para-sports and rowing.
Tejaswin Shankar and Priyanka Goswami Among Athletics Awardees
Athletics has three representatives among the 2025 Arjuna Award winners: Tejaswin Shankar, Muhammed Ajmal V and Priyanka Goswami. Their selection highlights the continued recognition of Indian athletes who have produced significant performances at national and international levels. For examination purposes, candidates should remember both the names and the discipline associated with each awardee.
Badminton and Chess Receive Major Recognition
Badminton players Treesa Jolly and Pullela Gayatri Gopichand have been selected for the Arjuna Award. Chess has also received notable recognition through Vidit Santosh Gujarathi and Divya Jitendra Deshmukh. The inclusion of chess players is significant because the sport has become an increasingly important part of India’s international sporting success.
Hockey, Kabaddi and Other Sports Represented
The 2025 Arjuna Award list also includes hockey players Lalremsiami and Rajkumar Pal, kabaddi players Surjeet and Pooja, boxer Narender, rower Arvind Singh, and shooter Akhil Sheoran. Para-sports are represented by Rudransh Khandelwal in para-shooting and Ekta Bhyan in para-athletics, while Dhanush Srikanth has been recognised in deaf shooting.
Arjuna Award Lifetime Goes to I Arumainayagam
The Arjuna Award (Lifetime) for 2025 has been awarded to I Arumainayagam for football. This category recognises sportspersons who have contributed to sports through their performances and continued to promote sports after retiring from active competition. This distinction is important because it differs from the regular Arjuna Award, which primarily recognises recent outstanding performance.
Dronacharya Awards Recognise Five Coaches
The Dronacharya Award 2025 has been announced for five coaches. In the regular category, Parveer Singh has been recognised for athletics, Chhote Lal Yadav for boxing and Neha Nandkumar Chavan for shooting. The lifetime category honours Dharmendra Singh Yadav for boxing and Virender Kumar for wrestling. The Dronacharya Award recognises coaches for outstanding and meritorious work and for helping sportspersons excel at international events.
Army Paralympic Node, Pune Receives Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar
The Army Paralympic Node, Pune has been selected for the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025. This award recognises entities that play a visible role in promoting and developing sports. Its selection also underlines the role of institutional support in developing para-sports and creating opportunities for athletes.
Selection Committee and Online Application Process
The awardees were selected on the recommendations of a committee chaired by Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. The committee also included eminent sportspersons, people with experience in sports journalism and sports administrators. Applications were invited online, with eligible sportspersons, coaches and entities permitted to self-apply through a dedicated online portal.
Why National Sports Awards Matter for Competitive Exams
The National Sports Awards are important from the perspective of UPSC, PCS, SSC, banking, railways, defence and police examinations because they combine current affairs with static general knowledge. Aspirants should remember the major award categories, their purposes, important winners, the concerned ministry and the selection process. The 2025 announcement is especially useful for questions involving the Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar and prominent Indian sportspersons.
Why This News Is Important
Relevance to Government Exam Current Affairs
The National Sports Awards 2025 are significant because sports awards are a recurring topic in competitive examinations. Questions may ask candidates to identify an award winner, match a sportsperson with a discipline, identify the purpose of an award or name the ministry responsible for the awards. Therefore, the latest announcement provides several important facts for current-affairs preparation.
Recognition of Indian Sporting Talent
The awards highlight India’s growing sporting diversity. Athletes from athletics, badminton, chess, boxing, hockey, kabaddi, rowing, shooting and para-sports have been recognised. This makes the announcement useful for understanding how national sporting honours acknowledge achievements across both mainstream and specialised sporting disciplines.
Importance of Coaches and Sports Institutions
The announcement is not limited to individual athletes. Five coaches received Dronacharya Awards, while the Army Paralympic Node, Pune, received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar. This demonstrates that India’s sporting ecosystem depends on athletes, coaches and institutions working together to develop sporting excellence.
Useful Link Between Current Affairs and Static GK
For exam aspirants, this news provides an opportunity to revise static facts about India’s national sports awards while learning current winners. The distinction between the regular Arjuna Award, Arjuna Award (Lifetime), Dronacharya Award and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar is particularly important because these categories can be tested through match-the-following and multiple-choice questions.
Significance for Sports Governance
The awards are administered through the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and involve a formal selection process. The 2025 exercise also included online applications and self-application by eligible candidates and entities. Such details are relevant to examinations that test government ministries, institutional mechanisms and public policy initiatives.
Historical Context of National Sports Awards
Evolution of India’s National Sports Honours
India has developed a structured system of national sports awards to recognise excellence in competitive sports, coaching and sports promotion. The award framework includes honours such as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports describes these awards as mechanisms for recognising sporting excellence and contributions to sports development.
Arjuna Award
The Arjuna Award recognises consistent outstanding performance by sportspersons. The award also considers qualities such as leadership, sportsmanship and discipline. The current framework focuses on performance over the previous four years, making recent international sporting achievements an important consideration.
Dronacharya Award
The Dronacharya Award focuses on coaches who have made outstanding and meritorious contributions and helped athletes achieve excellence at international events. Its inclusion in the national awards system recognises the importance of coaching and training in developing high-performing athletes.
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar
The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar recognises entities, including corporate organisations and NGOs, that make a visible contribution to sports promotion and development. The 2025 recognition of the Army Paralympic Node, Pune, demonstrates the importance of institutional support in India’s sports ecosystem.
Recent National Sports Awards
The National Sports Awards continue to evolve with India’s sporting achievements. For example, the 2024 awards recognised chess player Gukesh D, hockey player Harmanpreet Singh, para-athlete Praveen Kumar and shooter Manu Bhaker with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna. The 2024 Arjuna list also included athletes from athletics, boxing, hockey, chess, para-athletics and para-badminton.
Key Takeaways from National Sports Awards 2025
| Serial Number | Key Takeaway |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2025 on 18 August 2026. |
| 2 | 17 sportspersons were selected for the Arjuna Award 2025, covering disciplines such as athletics, badminton, chess, hockey, kabaddi, shooting and para-sports. |
| 3 | I Arumainayagam received the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) 2025 for football. |
| 4 | Five coaches received the Dronacharya Award 2025, comprising three regular-category and two lifetime-category awardees. |
| 5 | Army Paralympic Node, Pune received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025 for its role in sports promotion and development. |
FAQs
1. What are the National Sports Awards 2025?
The National Sports Awards 2025 are national-level honours presented to recognise outstanding achievements by sportspersons, coaches and organisations that contribute to the development and promotion of sports in India.
2. How many sportspersons were selected for the Arjuna Award 2025?
A total of 17 sportspersons were selected for the Arjuna Award 2025.
3. Who received the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) 2025?
I Arumainayagam was selected for the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) 2025 for football.
4. How many coaches received the Dronacharya Award 2025?
Five coaches were selected for the Dronacharya Award 2025, including awardees in both the regular and lifetime categories.
5. Who received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025?
The Army Paralympic Node, Pune was selected for the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025.
6. Which ministry administers the National Sports Awards?
The National Sports Awards are administered by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.
7. Who chaired the committee that recommended the National Sports Awards 2025?
The selection committee was chaired by Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra, former judge of the Supreme Court of India.
8. What does the Arjuna Award recognise?
The Arjuna Award recognises outstanding sporting performance, along with qualities such as leadership, sportsmanship and discipline.
9. What is the purpose of the Dronacharya Award?
The Dronacharya Award recognises coaches who have made outstanding and meritorious contributions to sports and helped sportspersons achieve excellence at international events.
10. Why are National Sports Awards important for government exams?
They are important for examinations such as UPSC, PCS, SSC, banking, railways, defence and police recruitment because questions can be asked about award winners, sports disciplines, government ministries and national sports institutions.
Some Important Current Affairs Links
