Divya Deshmukh and Tejaswin Shankar Shortlisted for Arjuna Award
Divya Deshmukh and Tejaswin Shankar Shortlisted for Arjuna Award
India's Arjuna Award nominees include Aarti Pal, making history, as well as Divya, Vidit Gujrathi, and Tejaswin Shankar, spotlighting a new wave of champions ahead of the 2026 Asian Games.
The list was finalized on Wednesday by the panel, which included former hockey player M.M. Somaya, former badminton player Aparna Popat, and IOA vice president Gagan Narang. Yogasan athlete Aarti Pal has been nominated for the Arjuna Award in a historic first. Yogasan will be represented at the 2026 Asian Games by Aarti, the current national and Asian champion. This discipline will be used as a demonstration sport there.
Divya, 19, became the first Indian woman to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup earlier this year. Fellow chess player Vidit Gujrathi also received a nomination. Tejaswin won a silver medal at the 2023 Asian Games and followed it up with another silver at the Asian Championships in 2025. Other notable names include rifle shooter Mehuli Ghosh, a two-time World Championship bronze medalist; gymnast Pranati Nayak; and India’s top women’s doubles badminton pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.
The full list of nominees includes several disciplines:
- Athletics: Tejaswin Shankar, Priyanka, Mohammed Afsal
- Boxing: Narender
- Chess: Vidit Gujrathi, Divya Deshmukh
- Deaf Shooting: Dhanush Srikanth
- Gymnastics: Pranati Nayak
- Hockey: Rajkumar Pal, Lalremsiami Hmar Zote
- Kabaddi: Surjeet, Pooja
- Kho Kho: Nirmala Bhati
- Para-Sports: Rudransh Khandelwal (Para-Shooting), Ekta Bhyan (Para-Athletics)
- Polo: Padmanabh Singh
- Rowing: Arvind Singh
- Shooting: Akhil Sheoran, Mehuli Ghosh
- Table Tennis: Sutirtha Mukherjee
- Wrestling: Sonam Malik
- Yoga: Aarti Pal
- Badminton: Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand
The recommendations demonstrate a broad representation across various sports. They highlight the Arjuna Award’s role in recognizing excellence in both popular and emerging disciplines. These nominations are more than just a nod to past victories; they are a "predictive" reward. As India builds toward the 2026 Asian Games and LA 2028, athletes like Divya and Tejaswin are the faces of a nation that is no longer satisfied with just participating; it wants to lead.
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