The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a character from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata of ancient India. He was master of advanced military warfare and was appointed as the royal preceptor to the Kaurava and the Pandava princes for their training in military arts and astras. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Recipients are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and are honoured to have done "outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and enabled sportspersons to excel in international events" over a period of four years. Two awards are designated for the lifetime contribution in coaching where the achievements in producing "outstanding sportspersons" over a period of 20 years or more are considered. As of 2020, the award comprises a bronze statuette of Dronacharya, a certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh (US$19,000).
Bhiwani is a city and a municipal council in Bhiwani district in the state of Haryana, Bhiwani was also known as "Gate of Rajputana". Besides being a seat of spiritual learning, the city is at the centre of regional politics and hometown of three former Haryana chief ministers: Bansi Lal, Banarsi Das Gupta and Hukum Singh. It is located 128 km west of national capital New Delhi.
Akhil Kumar is an Indian boxer who has won several international and national boxing awards. He practices an "open guarded" boxing style. In 2005, the Indian government gave him the Arjuna Award for his achievements in international boxing. In March 2017, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, appointed Akhil Kumar along with Mary Kom as national observers for boxing.
Geetika Jakhar is an Indian wrestler. Geetika comes from a family of sportspersons. She got Arjuna Award - 2006. She is the only women wrestler in the history of Indian sports to be judged the Best Wrestler of the 2005 Commonwealth Games and also who won medals at Asian Games 2006 and 2014 respectively. Geetika is the first women wrestler being awarded with the Arjuna Award by Government of India in 2006. She is also a proud recipient of Bhim Award by government of Haryana. For her extraordinary achievements in the field of sports, the government of Haryana has appointed her to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police in 2008.
Yogeshwar Dutt is an Indian freestyle wrestler. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the 60 kg category. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013. He won gold medals at the 2010 and the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He is one of only 5 male wrestlers in India to win an Olympic medal.
Sushil Kumar Solanki is a former Indian wrestler. He carried the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of 2012 London Olympics. His 2008 Olympic medal was second for India in wrestling, and the first since Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav's bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics. In July 2009, he received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna – India's highest honour for sportspersons. On 3 October 2010, Kumar handed the Queen's Baton to Prince Charles in the Queen's Baton Relay for the 2010 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. Sushil won the gold medal in the 74 kg division at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.Sushil won the gold medal in 74 kg division at 2018 Commonwealth Games
Chandgi Ram, often referred to as Master Chandgi Ram, was a freestyle wrestler from India. He won gold medal in the 1970 Asian Games and represented India in the 1972 Summer Olympics. Along with amateur wrestling, he was very active in the traditional Indian wrestling, where he had won all major titles, including Hind Kesari, Bharat Kesari, Bharat Bhim, Rustom-e-Hind and Maha Bharat Kesari.
Narsingh Pancham Yadav is an Indian wrestler. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medal in the men's freestyle 74 kg category.
Babita Kumari Phogat is an Indian wrestler, who won the gold medal in 2014 Commonwealth Games. She also won silver medals at 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2010 Commonwealth Games and a bronze medal at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships. Babita Phogat entered politics by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019.
Pooja Dhanda is an Indian wrestler from Budana village of Hisar district in Haryana, who won Bronze medal at the 2018 World Championships at Budapest in 57 kg weight class. She won Silver medals at 2010 Summer Youth Olympics and 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast in 60 kg and 57 kg category respectively. The grappler also won a Bronze at the 2014 Asian Wrestling Championship. Pooja has defeated Olympic and World Championship medalists. Government of India honoured her with the Arjuna award for outstanding performance in the field of Sports.
Amit Kumar Dahiya is an Indian wrestler who represented India at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. He was the youngest wrestler ever to represent India at the Olympics while also being the youngest athlete of the 2012 Indian Olympic delegation.
Bajrang Punia is an Indian freestyle wrestler, who competes in the 65-kg weight category. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Punia won a bronze medal by defeating Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov with a 8-0 margin. Punia is the only Indian wrestler to win 4 medals at the World Wrestling Championships.
Neha Rathi is an Indian wrestler. She was born in Bhaproda village district Jhajjar, Haryana. She is the daughter of Arjuna award-winner Jagroop Singh Rathi. She participated in 10 senior National championships and represented India on the international circuit at various levels more than 35 times. She competed in the 51 kilograms (112 lb) weight category. Her achievements include:
Vinesh Phogat is an Indian wrestler. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in both Commonwealth and Asian Games. She is the only Indian woman wrestler to win multiple medals at the World Wrestling Championships. Phogat became the first Indian athlete to be nominated for Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019.
Satyawart Kadian is an Indian wrestler. He first represented India at the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympics where he won a bronze medal in the boys' freestyle 100 kg category. He then represented India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and won a silver medal in the 97 kg weight class.
Sakshi Malik is an Indian freestyle wrestler. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics. She is a part of the JSW Sports Excellence Program, along with fellow female wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat.
Rahul Balasaheb Aware is an Indian male freestyle wrestler who competes in the men's freestyle 57 kg category. He has won Gold medal in 57 kg division at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.He was a student of Olympian late Harishchandra Birajdar. At present, he is being trained by his guru and father in law Kaka Pawar. Currently he is member of Maharashtra police as a deputy superintendent of police. He is fondly called as "Nana" by his friends and family.
Mausam Khatri is a freestyle wrestler from India. He was a bronze medallist in the 2010 Asian Games. He has also been Commonwealth champion twice, along with being the winner of gold medal in the 2016 South Asian Games.
Captain Mukhtiar Singh, popularly known as Mukhiya, was an Indian wrestler. He was the first one to grab two gold medals for India in Commonwealth Games and also he won a bronze medal in the 1970 Asian Games. He served Indian Army for 26 years and retired as Hon. Captain in 1988. Indian Army honored him with Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) for his outstanding services. He was awarded Arjun Award, the second-highest sporting honour of India, in 1967.
Ravi Kumar Dahiya, also known as Ravi Kumar or Ravi Dahiya, is an Indian freestyle wrestler who won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 57 kg category. Dahiya is also a bronze medallist from 2019 World Wrestling Championships and a three-time Asian champion. In the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medal in the men's 57kg freestyle wrestling category at Birmingham, England.
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