Thanks goes to my team and family: Harmanpreet Singh on being awarded the Khel Ratna

After receiving the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh on Friday said all the credit goes to his team and family members. Two-time Olympic medalist Manu Bhaker, world chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju, Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and Paralympic athlete Praveen Kumar were awarded the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award by President Draupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday. Harmanpreet Singh participated in the Tokyo Olympics where India won bronze in hockey. He was also nominated for the FIH Player of the Year. Under his leadership, Team India won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.

Speaking to reporters, Harmanpreet Singh said he was delighted to receive the prestigious award.

“I am very happy and the credit goes to my team and family members… The journey has been wonderful as we have performed very well and won many medals in various tournaments…,” Harmanpreet Singh told reporters.

As for the other Khel Ratna award winners, Gukesh’s success story is one of the highlights of Indian sports in 2024. In December, he made history by defeating China’s Ding Liren in the deciding game 14 of the FIDE World Championship match in Singapore. The championship was tied 6.5–6.5 heading into the final game with a brilliant performance from Gukesh who took the win by 7.5–6.5 to become the youngest world champion in history at 18 years of age. He also became the second world chess champion from India after Viswanathan Anand.

Paralympic athlete Praveen Kumar won gold in the men’s T64 high jump at the 2024 Paralympics.

Manu Bhaker opened India’s medal tally at the Olympics after she finished third in the women’s 10m air pistol individual event, becoming the first woman shooter to win an Olympic medal for India. Following this, Sarabjot Singh and Bhaker won a bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol (Mixed Team), India’s first team medal in shooting.

In her final event, she narrowly missed out on a historic big treble and finished fourth in the women’s 25m pistol. She missed out on becoming the first Indian to win three medals at the Olympics.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)