- Date of Announcement: 18 August 2026
- Announced by: Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Key Highlights
- No recipient for Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (highest sporting honour) this year.
- Selection Committee chaired by Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra (former Supreme Court Judge)
1. Arjuna Award (Outstanding Performance)
- Given for consistent international performance over the previous four years, leadership, sportsmanship and discipline.
17 Recipients:
- Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics) – Historic decathlon bronze at Commonwealth Games 2026 (first Indian)
- Muhammed Ajmal V (Athletics)
- Priyanka Goswami (Athletics)
- Treesa Jolly (Badminton)
- Pullela Gayatri Gopichand (Badminton)
- Narender (Boxing) – Commonwealth Games silver
- Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (Chess)
- Divya Deshmukh (Chess) – FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025 winner (first Indian woman)
- Dhanush Srikanth (Deaf Shooting)
- Lalremsiami (Hockey)
- Rajkumar Pal (Hockey)
- Surjeet (Kabaddi)
- Pooja (Kabaddi)
- Rudransh Khandelwal (Para Shooting) – From Bharatpur, Rajasthan; multiple World Cup golds & world records
- Ekta Bhyan (Para Athletics)
- Arvind Singh (Rowing)
- Akhil Sheoran (Shooting)
Arjuna Award (Lifetime)
- I Arumainayagam (Football) – 1962 Asian Games gold medallist
2. Dronacharya Award (Outstanding Coaches)
- Given for consistent and meritorious work enabling athletes to excel at international level.
Regular Category:
- Parveer Singh (Athletics)
- Chhote Lal Yadav (Boxing)
- Neha Nandkumar Chavan (Shooting)
Lifetime Category:
- Dharmendra Singh Yadav (Boxing)
- Virender Kumar (Wrestling)
3. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar
- Given to organisations (corporate/NGO) for visible contribution to sports promotion and development.
- Recipient: Army Paralympic Node, Pune
- Note: No Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy details were announced in this round.
Rudransh Khandelwal
- Born: 19 November 2006, Bharatpur, Rajasthan
- Sport: Para Shooting (SH1 category – pistol events: 10m Air Pistol & 50m Pistol)
- Coaching at - SBN Shooting Academy, Bharatpur under coach Sumit Rathi.
Key Achievements
- Represented India at Paris 2024 Paralympics
- Multiple World Cup gold medals (including Osijek 2023 – set world record in P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 with 231.1)
- Junior World Records in 10m Air Pistol
- Silver medals at 2022 Asian Para Games
- National record of 244.2 in 10m Air Pistol (2025)
- Ranked World No. 1 in 50m Pistol (SH1) at one stage
Source:PIB