The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one of the characters of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata of ancient India. In Hinduism, he has been seen as a symbol of hard work, dedication and concentration. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Before the introduction of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 1991–1992, the Arjuna award was the highest sporting honour of India. 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 Major Dhyan Chandra 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 the international level and for having shown "qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline." As of 2020, the award comprises "a bronze statuette of Arjuna, certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh (US$19,000)."
Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore,, is an Indian politician, Olympic medallist in shooting and retired colonel in the Indian Army. Rathore is a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Jaipur Rural seat since 2014.
The Khel Ratna Award, officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.
Anjali Bhagwat is a professional Indian sport shooter. She became the World Number One in 10m Air Rifle in 2002. She also won her first World Cup Final in Milan, in 2003, with a score of 399/400.
Tejaswini Sawant is an Indian shooter from the Maharashtrian city of Kolhapur. Her father Ravindra Sawant was an officer in the Indian Navy.
Gagan Narang is an Indian sport shooter, supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. He won the bronze medal in the Men's 10 m Air Rifle Event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with a final score of 701.1 on 30 July 2012.
Honorary Captain Vijay Kumar Sharma, AVSM, SM is an Indian sport shooter. He won the silver medal in the individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Kumar hails from Barsar village of Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh and is a retired Subedar Major in the Dogra Regiment Indian Army, who was later promoted to Honorary Captain Rank. Vijay Kumar is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest initiative. He is the only Indian to have won a medal at 25m rapid Fire Pistol. He has been posted at Indian Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) Mhow since 2003 where he is being coached by the Russian Pavel Smirnov.
Master Chief Petty Officer Sanjeev Rajput is an Arjuna Awardee Indian sport shooter from Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. He was a retired Junior Commissioned Officer in Indian Navy.
Abhinav Apjit Bindra is an Indian Olympic gold medallist, retired sport shooter, and businessman. He is the first and one of only two Indians to win an Individual Olympic Gold Medal. He is the first Indian to have held concurrently the world and Olympic titles for the men's 10-meter air rifle event, having earned those honors at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships. Bindra has also won seven medals at the Commonwealth Games and three medals at the Asian Games.
India has a history of sports dating back thousands of years. Cricket is the most popular spectator sport; it generates the highest television viewership, with the Indian Premier League (IPL) being the most-followed league in the country. Football has also gained popularity, with the Indian Super League (ISL) being the highest level of domestic football, and the national team winning multiple gold medals at the Asian and South Asian Games. Additional football accomplishments include India having reached the semifinal of the 1960 Olympics, qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and won the SAFF Championship. Other sports include kabaddi, badminton, tennis, and athletics, with kho-kho becoming the fourth-most viewed sport. India has also had success in field hockey, winning the World Cup and multiple medals in the Olympic Games. Sports such as golf, rugby, boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, motorsport, wrestling, and basketball are featured throughout the country.
Rahi Jeevan Sarnobat is a female athlete from India who competes in the 25 metre pistol shooting event. She won her first gold medal at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India. She is the first woman to win a gold medal in shooting at the Asian Games for India – she won the gold at the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games in the women's 25 metre pistol event. She won two gold medals in 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the first of the two golds in coming in the 25 metre pistol pair event with Anisa Sayyed. She had previously won gold in the 25 metre pistol event at the 2008 Youth Commonwealth Games, which were held in India.
Manoj Kumar, is an Indian boxer who won a gold medal in the light welterweight division at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He hails from the village of Rajound in the Kaithal district of Haryana.
Joydeep Karmakar is an Indian sports shooter from Kolkata, West Bengal. He represented India in rifle prone events in various championships. started his sports career in 1989. He became a Junior National Champion in his first Nationals in 1994. He has represented India in 28 World Cups 2 Commonwealth Games 1 Asian Games 3 World Championships. He qualified to represent India at London 2012 Summer Olympics in men's 50 metre rifle prone event. His career best world ranking is 4th and in Asia 1st in 2010 to 2012.
Roopa Unnikrishnan is an Indian-born American sports shooter and innovation consultant, based in New York City. In 1998, she was the first Indian woman to ever win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, in the 50m rifle prone position event.
Sports in Andhra Pradesh has its own importance, where many sporting personalities were into limelight. The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) undertakes the sports development activities such as construction of stadiums, establishment of sports academies and other sporting related activities. The sports infrastructure have increased tremendously by improving infrastructure in outdoor and Indoor stadiums, play fields, sports academies, sports equipments etc. Sports such as kho kho, kabaddi are played mostly in Andhra Pradesh.Most sports players from Andhra pradesh represent national level competitions and very few international competitions.
Apurvi Singh Chandela is an Indian Shooting player who competes in the 10 metre air rifle event. She won the gold medal in the 2019 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi. She is a recipient of Arjuna award.
Suma Shirur is a former Indian shooter who competed in the 10 metre air rifle event. She is a joint world record holder in the event, having scored the maximum of 400 points in the qualification round, which she achieved at the 2004 Asian Shooting Championships in Kuala Lumpur. In 2003, she was awarded the Arjuna Award by the government of India. She is currently the High Performance Coach of the Indian Jr. Rifle Shooting Team. She is also the coach of 2020 Paralympics women's SH1 10m rifle gold and women's SH1 50m 3-position rifle bronze medalist Avani Lekhara On 30 November of 2022, she was conferred the Dronacharya Award by the 15th President of India, Droupadi Murmu.
Mehuli Ghosh is an Indian sport shooter. She represents India at international junior shooting championships across the world. Among 123 competitors, she was the only Indian shooting athlete to reach the finals of the 2018 junior shooting competition held in the Czech Republic. She ranked seventh there. In 2018, at the XXI Commonwealth Games held at Gold Coast, Australia, she won a silver medal in Women's 10m Air Rifle after a shoot-off with Martina Veloso. As of September 2023, she was ranked 36th in the world and 14th in Asia.
