Ace India shooter Manu Bhaker, who had etched her name in history as the first Indian woman to win multiple medals in one edition of the Olympics, didn't find a mention in the list of athletes nominated for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the highest sporting award in the country. This has come as a shocker after the young shooter's brilliant show at the Paris Olympics earlier this year. Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh, who led the team to a bronze in Paris, joins para-athlete Praveen Kumar, who won gold in the men's high jump T64 class with an Asian record at the Paris Paralympics for the nomination for the award.
According to a report in The Times of India, officials in the sports ministry have claimed that Manu didn't apply for the award, but sources close to her family have refuted the claim, to say that she had indeed sent in her application. Even if Manu didn't apply for the award, it is strange that the ministry didn't consider her name given her double bronze medal win at the Paris Olympics. In 2023, India pacer Mohammed Shami had not applied for the Arjuna award either but he was awarded the honour after BCCI insisted, following which the awards committee took his name into consideration.
Manu was awarded the Arjuna in 2020 for 'Outstanding Performance in Sports', but it looks like she is still a few medals away from the Khel Ratna. Soon after the Paris Olympics, Manu faced a lot of criticism after one of her social media posts on the Khel .