• Flash bulbs worked overtime and made the sport stars shine brightly in the Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan as President Ram Nath Kovind presented the National sports and adventure awards on Tuesday.
• Starting with the Rajiv Khel Ratna to weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and Virat Kohli, the packed audience applauded every awardee, making it an emotional experience for the achievers.
• Except for woman cricketer Smriti Mandana and tennis ace Rohan Bopanna, busy with international commitments, every other awardee was present.
• Emotional moments
• It was a moving sight when the President walked up to blind para-athlete Ankur Dhama to present the award to a thunderous applause.
• It was a solemn moment when Ravi Kumar was presented the Tenzing Norgay adventure award posthumously. The young mountaineer had lost his life on the descent after conquering Mount Everest last year. The applause was long and touching when the award was received by his father.
• Quite understandably, most of the athletes were lost for words. Asian Games heroes Hima Das and Jinson Johnson said they were focused on doing better in the Asian and World championships.
• Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar) won the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad award for the 23rd time.
• It was an evening to cherish for sports-persons across disciplines, ranging from cricket to Wushu, not to forget the land, water and air adventure awardees.

The awardees:

• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: Mirabhai Chanu and Virat Kohli.
• Arjuna award: Neeraj Chopra, Jinson Johnson, Hima Das, Sikki Reddy, Satish Kumar, Smriti Mandhana, Shubhankar Sharma, Manpreet Singh, Savita Punia, Ravi Rathore, Ankur Mittal, Rahi Sarnobat, Shreyasi Singh, G. Sathiyan, Manika Batra, Rohan Bopanna, Sumit, Pooja Kadian, Ankur Dhama and Manoj Sarkar.
• Dronacharya award: Sukhdev Singh Pannu,Chenanda Achaiah Kuttappa, A. Srinivasa Rao, Vijay Sharma, V.R. Beedu, Tarak Sinha, Clarence Lobo and Jiwan Kumar Sharma.
• Dhyan Chand award: Satyadev Prasad, Bobby Aloysius, Bharat Chetri and Chougale Dadu Dattatray.
• Tenzing Norgay Adventure award: Dr. Anshu Jamesenpa, Late Ravi Kumar, Vartika Joshi, Pratibha Jamwal, Patarlapalli Swathi, Shougrakpam Vijaya Devi, Aishwarya Boddapati, Payal Gupta, Udit Thapa and Sonam Wangyal.
• Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd., JSW Sports, Isha Outreach.
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad trophy: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.