Tripura is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers 10,491.69 km2 (4,050.86 sq mi) and is bordered by Bangladesh to the north, south, and west, and the Indian states of Assam and Mizoram to the east. In 2011 the state had 3,671,032 residents, constituting 0.3% of the country's population.
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.
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).
Sport is a significant part of life in India. The country has a very long sports history, with sports being a part of tradition, culture, finance and entertainment. People in India closely follow various sports and enthusiastically participate in them. Cricket is the most popular spectator sport in the country, and citizens often play it as a recreational activity; it generates the highest television viewership, and features full-capacity audiences in stadiums during international and Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. It is part of popular culture. However, in more recent decades, football has also become another popular sport in terms of broadcast viewership and stadium audience attendance. Kabaddi has grown into the mainstream, as well as badminton, tennis, and athletics. India are the one of the power houses in field hockey. India won World Cup & multiple medals in field hockey in Olympics. During that time, Dhyan Chand was a notable player. Sports such as swimming and badminton are played as recreational activities and for exercise.
Rani Rampal is an Indian field hockey player. At the age of 15, she was the youngest player in the national team which participated in the 2010 World Cup. She has completed her schooling but was not able to get the graduate degree due to practice sessions and matches which were lined up. She plays forward on her team. She has played 212 international matches and scored 134 goals. She is currently the Captain for Indian Women's Hockey Team. She is also well known as a striker who often doubles up as mid-fielder. She has a great fascination with CWG. In 2020, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri.
Gymnastics came of age in India, when at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Ashish Kumar won the first-ever medal in gymnastics, he won a bronze medal. However, soon after the win, the President of the Gymnastics Federation of India asked Ashish's Chief Coach from the Soviet Union, Vladimir Chertkov: "Is this all that you can deliver, a bronze?" The comment was widely reported in the press.
Purnima Mahato is an Indian archer and archery coach from Jamshedpur, India. She has won the Indian national archery championships and a silver medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. She was a coach for the Indian national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics and was selected to coach the team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was awarded Dronacharya award from President of India for 2013 on 29 August 2013.
The Squash Rackets Federation of India or SRFI is the Indian governmental apex body for the game of squash. It conducts the National Squash Championship, and promotes the game through the state level squash bodies, and provides training facilities and selects the squad for the Indian team. It also chooses coaches for the national team. The rise of squash worldwide with many players in the top 100 worldwide and India's higher rankings worldwide are a testament to the hard work put in by the administrators and players over the last decade.
Sunil Dabas is a coach of national female Kabbadi team of India. Over the years, she has coached her team to win seven international gold medals, including the 2010 Asian Games and the World Cup-2012. She was awarded the Dronacharya Award in 2012, and Padma Shri in 2014 by Government of India.
Jitu Rai is an Indian Army Subedar Major who competes in the 10 metre air pistol and 50 metre pistol events. The Government of India announced the Khel Ratna Award for him in 2016. In 2020, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India.
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.
Dipa Karmakar is an Indian Gymnast from Tripura State. She is the first gymnast of India who competed in the Olympics. In her debut 2016 Summer Olympics, in the final she reached till 4th position.
The handspring double salto forward tucked, known as a Produnova in women's artistic gymnastics and a Roche in men's artistic gymnastics, is a vault consisting of a front handspring onto the vaulting horse and two front somersaults in a tucked position off it.
India competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Indian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1920, although they made their official debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Mantu Debnath is an Indian Bengali gymnast from Agartala, Tripura. He won gold medals at national level competition, became the first Indian gymnast to win an international competition in Russia in 1969 and won the Arjuna Award in 1975 for his contributions in gymnastics. Mantu is also the second Indian Arjuna awardee for gymnastics after Sham Lal and the first Arjuna awardee from Tripura. He was trained by Dalip Singh.
Kalpana Debnath is an Indian Bengali gymnast from Tripura who received the Arjuna Award in 2000 for her contributions to Indian gymnastics. She is the second Arjuna awardee from Tripura after Mantu Debnath. She was trained by Dalip Singh.
Dalip Singh, also spelt as Duleep Singh, was an Indian gymnastics coach from Haryana. His main training centre was Vivekananda Byamagar, Agartala. Gymnastics began in Tripura at that centre under the supervision of Singh, who began working in Agartala in 1964. His notable students included Mantu Debnath, Bharat Kishore Debbarman, Kalpana Debnath, Bishweshwar Nandi, and others.
Vivekananda Byamagar is a gymnasium, located in Agartala, Tripura, India. It is the oldest gymnasium in Agartala. It was the work-place of legendary gymnastics coach Dalip Singh. It has produced many notable gymnasts such as Mantu Debnath, Bharat Kishore Debbarman, N. N. Dey, Balaram Shil, Madhusudan Saha, Lopamudra Ghosh, Ratan Debnath, Manika Debnath, Kalpana Debnath, Bishweshwar Nandi, Apu Shil, Dipa Karmakar and others.
Pranati Nayak is an Indian artistic gymnast. She is the 2019 Asian Championships vault bronze medalist. She is the third Indian gymnast to win an international medal on the vault, after Dipa Karmakar and Aruna Reddy. She represented India at the 2020 Summer Olympics and is only the second Indian female gymnast to qualify for the Olympic Games. She is also the 2019 Indian all-around champion. She represented India at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and at the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games. She also competed at the 2014, 2017, and 2019 World Championships.
