Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was getting requests from citizens across India to name the Khel Ratna Award after Major Dhyan Chand.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 6 announced on twitter that India’s top sports award Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award will henceforth be called as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
Modi in a tweet said “I have been getting many requests from citizens across India to name the Khel Ratna Award after Major Dhyan Chand. I thank them for their views. Respecting their sentiment, the Khel Ratna Award will hereby be called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award!”
The PM further said, “Major Dhyan Chand was among India’s foremost sportspersons who brought honour and pride for India. It is fitting that our nation’s highest sporting honour will be named after him”.
I have been getting many requests from citizens across India to name the Khel Ratna Award after Major Dhyan Chand. I thank them for their views.
Respecting their sentiment, the Khel Ratna Award will hereby be called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award!
Jai Hind! pic.twitter.com/zbStlMNHdq
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 6, 2021
Also read: Medal Drought Ends For Indian Hockey! Men’s Team Brings Bronze Back Home
At present, the exceptional performance of the men’s and women’s Hockey Team has captured the attention of the entire nation. The prime minister claimed that the renewed interest towards the sport is a very positive sign for the coming times.
The Khel Ratna award is the highest sporting honour in the nation and this prestigious award carries a prize money of Rs 25 lakh as well.
On August 5, the Indian men’s hockey team bagged the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after defeating Germany in the third-place match and won India’s first hockey medal in 41 years.
Hockey greats Dhyan Chand and KD Singh Babu were the stars when India won six straight Olympic tournaments between 1928 and 1956. Five of their eight triumphs came after India’s independence from British rule in 1947.
Hockey remains India’s national game and this year’s Olympic Games have raised the citizen’s affection for their national sport.
Great Britain’s women’s field hockey team defeated India 4-3 in the third-place match to bag the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics on August 6, 2021.
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