List of Arjuna Award recipients (1980–1989)

The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games[1] is a sports honour of Republic of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Before the introduction of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991–1992, the Arjuna Award was the highest sporting honour of India.[2][3] As of 2020, the award comprises "a bronze statuette of Arjuna, certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of 15 lakh (US$18,000)".[a]

Arjuna Award
Civilian award for outstanding individual achievements in National Sports
Sponsored byGovernment of India
Established1961
First awarded1961
Highlights
Total awarded147

Name

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The award is named after Arjuna, a character from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata of ancient India. He is one of the Pandavas, depicted as a skilled archer, winning the hand of Draupadi in marriage, and, in the Kurukshetra War, Lord Krishna becomes his charioteer, teaching him the sacred knowledge of Gita.[4] In Hindu mythology, he has been seen as a symbol of hard work, dedication and concentration.[5]

History

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Instituted in 1961 to honour the outstanding sportspersons of the country,[6] the award over the years has undergone a number of expansions, reviews, and rationalizations. The award was expanded to include all the recognised disciplines in 1977, has introduced indigenous games and physically handicapped categories in 1995 and introduced a lifetime contribution category in 1995 leading to creation of a separate Dhyan Chand Award in 2002.[7][8] The latest revision in 2018 stipulates that the award is given only to the disciplines included in the events like Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championship and World Cup along with Cricket, Indigenous Games, and Parasports. It also recommends giving only fifteen awards in a year, relaxing in case of excellent performance in major multi-sport events, team sports, across gender and giving away of at least one award to physically challenged category.[1]

The nominations for the award are received from all government recognised National Sports Federations, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Sports Promotion and Control Boards, the state and the union territory governments and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dhyan Chand and Dronacharya awardees of the previous years. The recipients are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and are honoured for their "good performance in the field of sports over a period of four years" at international level and for having shown "qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline".[1]

Recipients

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A total of 147 awards were presented in the 1980s – thirteen in 1980–1981, followed by sixteen in 1981, twenty in 1982, nineteen in 1983, fifteen in 1984, nineteen in 1985, thirteen in 1986, fifteen in 1987, five in 1988 and twelve in 1989. Individuals from thirty-three different sports were awarded, which includes nineteen from athletics, ten each from hockey and cricket, seven each from boxing, mountaineering and weightlifting, six each from chess, wrestling and yachting, five each from kho kho, shooting, swimming, table tennis and volleyball, four each from billiards & snooker, equestrian, football and kabaddi, three each from golf, three each from adventure sports, badminton and basketball, two each from archery, golf, gymnastics, lawn tennis, polo, powerlifting and rowing, and one each from ball badminton, bodybuilding, cycling, roller skating and squash.[9]

Amongst the notable winners were P. T. Usha (awarded in 1983), nicknamed "queen of track and field".[10] In 1984 Los Angeles Olympics she missed the bronze medal by one-hundredth of a second in 400 metres hurdles,[10] and in 1985 Asian Athletics Championships held in Indonesia, she won five gold medals and a bronze medal.[11] Bachendri Pal (awarded in 1984), became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest in 1984, after which she led a number of expeditions including the 1993 Indo-Nepalese Women's Everest Expedition.[12][13] Viswanathan Anand (awarded in 1985) became India's first-ever chess grandmaster in 1988. He would go on to become the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 and subsequently undisputed World Chess Champion four times in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012.[14] Geet Sethi (awarded in 1985) was a professional English billiards player. He dominated the sport for much of 1990s, becoming the world champion eight times and setting two world records.[15]

List of Recipients

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Bachendri Pal awarded in 1984
 
Viswanathan Anand awarded in 1985
Award recipients by year[9]
Year Number of recipients
1980–1981
13
1981
16
1982
20
1983
19
1984
15
1985
19
1986
13
1987
15
1988
5
1989
12
Award recipients by sport[9]
Sport Number of recipients
Adventure Sports
3
Archery
2
Athletics
19
Badminton
3
Basketball
3
Billiards & Snooker
4
Boxing
7
Chess
6
Cricket
10
Equestrian
4
Football
4
Golf
2
Gymnastics
2
Hockey
10
Kabaddi
4
Kho Kho
5
Lawn Tennis
2
Mountaineering
7
Polo
2
Powerlifting
2
Rowing
2
Shooting
5
Swimming
5
Table Tennis
5
Volleyball
5
Weightlifting
7
Wrestling
6
Yachting
6
Ball Badminton
Bodybuilding
Cycling
Roller Skating
Squash
1(each)
Key
§ Indicates Para sports
List of Arjuna award recipients, showing the year, sport, and gender[9]
Year Recipient Sport Gender
1980–1981 Issac Amaldas Boxing Male
1980–1981 Chetan Chauhan Cricket Male
1980–1981 Manjit Dua Table Tennis Male
1980–1981 Mohammed Habib Football Male
1980–1981 Shantaram Jadhav Kabaddi Male
1980–1981 Rohini Khadilkar Chess Female
1980–1981 Syed Kirmani Cricket Male
1980–1981 Ramesh Krishnan Lawn Tennis Male
1980–1981 Syed Modi Badminton Male
1980–1981 Eliza Nelson Hockey Female
1980–1981 Gopal Saini Athletics Male
1980–1981 Mohammed Shahid Hockey Male
1980–1981 Jagmander Singh Wrestling Male
1981 Chandraprabha Aitwal Mountaineering Female
1981 Sabir Ali Athletics Male
1981 Harshwanti Bisht Mountaineering Female
1981 S. P. Chauhan Shooting Male
1981 Krishna Das Archery Female
1981 Zarir Karanjia Yachting Male
1981 Sudhir Karmakar Football Male
1981 Ganapathy Manoharan Boxing Male
1981 Monika Nath Kabaddi Female
1981 Balwant Sandhu Mountaineering Male
1981 Sushma Sarolkar Kho Kho Female
1981 Bijaya Kumar Satpathy Weightlifting Male
1981 Rekha Sharma Mountaineering Female
1981 Varsha Soni Hockey Female
1981 H. M. Takalkar Kho Kho Male
1981 Dilip Vengsarkar Cricket Male
1982 Mohinder Amarnath Cricket Male
1982 Madhumita Bisht Badminton Female
1982 Charles Borromeo Athletics Male
1982 Rupinder Singh Brar Equestrian Male
1982 Venugopal Chandrasekhar Table Tennis Male
1982 Partho Ganguli Badminton Male
1982 Bhuvneshwari Kumari Squash Female
1982 Persis Madan Swimming Female
1982 Chand Ram Athletics Male
1982 Ajmer Singh Basketball Male
1982 Kartar Singh Wrestling Male
1982 Kaur Singh Boxing Male
1982 Lakshman Singh Golf Male
1982 Raghubir Singh Equestrian Male
1982 Tara Singh Weightlifting Male
1982 G. E. Sridharan Volleyball Male
1982 Farokh Tarapore Yachting Male
1982 Fali Unwalla Yachting Male
1982 Jeeje Unwalla Yachting Male
1982 M. D. Valsamma Athletics Female
1983 Subhash Agarwal Billiards & Snooker Male
1983 Armin R. Arthan Cycling Female
1983 Dibyendu Barua Chess Male
1983 Vispy K. Daroga Weightlifting Male
1983 Diana Edulji Cricket Female
1983 Zafar Iqbal Hockey Male
1983 Maya Kashinath Kabaddi Female
1983 Mohinder Lal Shooting Male
1983 Shanti Mullick Football Female
1983 Veena Narayan Parab Kho Kho Female
1983 Jaslal Pradhan Boxing Male
1983 R. K. Purohit Volleyball Female
1983 Suman Sharma Basketball Female
1983 Radhey Shyam Basketball Male
1983 R. S. Sodhi Polo Male
1983 Anita Sood Swimming Male
1983 Parvin K. Uberoy Rowing Male
1983 P. T. Usha Athletics Female
1983 Suresh Yadav Athletics Male
1984 Shiny Abraham Athletics Female
1984 Omprakesh Agrawal Snooker Male
1984 P. J. Joseph Powerlifting Male
1984 Saly Joseph Volleyball Female
1984 Rajbir Kaur Hockey Female
1984 Ghulam Mohammed Khan Equestrian Male
1984 D. K. Khullar Mountaineering Male
1984 Raj Kumar Athletics Male
1984 Mohd. Amin Naik Rowing Male
1984 Bachendri Pal Mountaineering Male
1984 S. Prakash Kho Kho Male
1984 D. Rajaraman Ball Badminton Male
1984 Ravi Shastri Cricket Male
1984 Khajan Singh Swimming Male
1984 Pravin Thipsay Chess Male
1985 Asha Agarwal Athletics Female
1985 Anand Amritraj Lawn Tennis Male
1985 Viswanathan Anand Chess Male
1985 Raghubir Singh Bal Athletics Male
1985 Mehar Chand Bhaskar Weightlifting Male
1985 Phu Dorjee Mountaineering Male
1985 Soma Dutta Shooting Female
1985 S. B. Kulkarni Kho Kho Female
1985 Shubhangi Kulkarni Cricket Female
1985 Somiya Maney Hockey Male
1985 Kamlesh Mehta Table Tennis Male
1985 A. J. Pandit Shooting Male
1985 Gulshan Rai Adventure Sports Male
1985 Geet Sethi Billiards & Snooker Male
1985 Sunita Sharma Gymnastics Female
1985 Taranath Narayan Shenoy Swimming§ Male
1985 Mahabir Singh Wrestling Male
1985 Prem Maya Sonir Hockey Female
1985 Adille Sumariwala Athletics Male
1986 Sandhya Agarwal Cricket Female
1986 Mohammad Azharuddin Cricket Male
1986 Dhruv Bhandari Yachting Male
1986 Joaquim Carvalho Hockey Male
1986 Premchand Degra Bodybuilding Male
1986 Arti Pradhan Adventure Sports Male
1986 K. S. Rao Adventure Sports Male
1986 Suman Rawat Athletics Female
1986 Bhagirath Samai Shooting Male
1986 Jagmohan Sapra Weightlifting Male
1986 Rama Sarkar Kabaddi Female
1986 Jaipal Singh Boxing Male
1986 Cyril C. Valloor Volleyball Male
1987 J. S. Ahluwalia Equestrian Male
1987 G. Devan Weightlifting Male
1987 Kuldeep Singh Garcha Polo Male
1987 Seera Jayaram Boxing Male
1987 Nonita Lal Golf Female
1987 Monalisa Baruah Mehta Table Tennis Female
1987 Naman Virendra Parekh Roller Skating Male
1987 C. S. Pradipak Yachting Male
1987 Devaki Prasad Chess Male
1987 Vandana Rao Athletics Female
1987 Vandana Shanbagh Athletics Female
1987 Bagicha Singh Athletics Male
1987 Balwinder Singh Athletics Male
1987 Bhagyashree Thipsay Chess Female
1987 Subhash Verma Wrestling Male
1988 Wilson Cherian Swimming Male
1988 Rajesh Kumar Wrestling Male
1988 Ashwini Nachappa Athletics Female
1988 M. P. Singh Hockey Male
1988 P. K. Yeshodhra Powerlifting Male
1989 Abdul Basith Volleyball Male
1989 Subrata Bhattacharya Football Male
1989 Gopal Dewang Boxing Male
1989 Jyotsna Dutta Weightlifting Female
1989 Mercy Kuttan Athletics Female
1989 Madan Lal Cricket Male
1989 Shyam Lal Meena Archery Male
1989 Yasin Merchant Billiards & Snooker Male
1989 Krupali Patel Gymnastics Female
1989 Niyati Shah Table Tennis Female
1989 Pargat Singh Hockey Male
1989 Satyawan Wrestling Male

Explanatory notes

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  1. ^ The cash prize was introduced in the year 1977–1978 as a scholarship of 200 (US$2.40) a month for 2 years.[16] It was revised to one time cash prize of 5,000 (US$60) in 1986,[17] to 20,000 (US$240) in 1987,[18] to 50,000 (US$600) in 1993,[19] to 1.5 lakh (US$1,800) in 1998,[20] to 3 lakh (US$3,600) in 2001,[21] to 5 lakh (US$6,000) in 2009,[22] and to 15 lakh (US$18,000) in 2020.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Revised Scheme of Arjuna Award" (PDF). Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (India). 7 September 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  2. ^ Chhetri, Vivek (30 May 2015). "Team spirit at its peak for Arjuna". Telegraph India. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Vishwanathan Anand gets Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 18 August 1992. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  4. ^ Davis, Richard H. (26 October 2014). The Bhagavad Gita. ISBN 978-0-691-13996-8.
  5. ^ "Sports Ministry unveils new look Sports Awards" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 26 August 2009. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  6. ^ Bhardwaj, D. K. "India in Sports: Some Fabulous Achievements". Press Information Bureau, India. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Cash awards for Arjuna winners" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 12 October 1977. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Arjuna Awards further expanded" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 24 May 1995. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d "List of Arjuna Awardees (1961–2018)" (PDF). Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (India). Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  10. ^ a b "PT Usha nominated for IAAF's Veteran Pin". Sportstar Hindu. Press Trust of India. 18 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  11. ^ "I was not a one-race wonder: PT Usha opens up on 'golden period'". Olympic Chaneel. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Bachendri Pal". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Padma Bhushan awardee Bachendri Pal to lead a trek to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of 1993 Indo Nepalese Women's Everest Expedition" (Press release). Tata Steel. 13 April 2019. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  14. ^ "Encyclopaedia Britannica". Viswanathan Anand. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  15. ^ Subrahmanyam, V. V (2 April 2020). "Sportstar Archives: Geet Sethi – The romance continues". Sportstar Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  16. ^ "Two years Scholarship for winners" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 27 October 1978. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  17. ^ "Arjuna Award for 1986 to 13 Sports persons" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 12 January 1988. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Value of cash prize enhanced" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 30 May 1989. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Arjuna awards, Dronachrya awards for 1998 Presented" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 22 July 1993. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Value of cash prize enhanced" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 1 September 1998. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  21. ^ "Arjuna Awards scheme Revised" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 3 April 2002. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  22. ^ "Several initiatives undertaken for transformation of sports" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, India. 22 December 2009. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  23. ^ "Enhancement of cash amount of Sports Awards 2020" (PDF). Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (India). 27 August 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
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