arjuna award.

                              The Arjuna Awords Selection committee, headed by World Cup winning

cricket captain Kapil Dev, couldn't find a suitable candidate for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi

Khel Ratna, the highest sports honour, and nominated cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin and pistol shooter Heena Sidhu,

                            The Arjuna Awards.Eight names, including that of discus throwers Vikas

Gowda, Krishna Poonia, shuttler P.V. Sindhu and golfer Jeev Milkha Singh, were initially

recommended for the Khel Ratna, sources in the committee told IANS.Only Jeev and

Sindhu came close but the selection committee was not impressed with the former's 2012 Scottish Open win in the last four years.

                            The committee also felt that Sindhu's bronze in last year's World

Championships was not enough and she still has age on her side to get the award."Jeev's

performance in the last four years was not impressive," said Kapil.Besides Ashwin and

Heena, who rose to world No.1 spot in April, the others nominated for the Arjuna Award are

Abhishek Verma (archery), Tintu Luka (athletics), H.N. Girisha (paralympics), V. Diju

(badminton), Geetu Ann Jose (basketball), Jai Bhagwan (boxing), Anirban Lahiri (golf),

Mamta Pujari (kabaddi), Saji Thomas (rowing), Anaka Alankamany (Squash), Tom Joseph

(volleyball), Renubala Chanu (weightlifting) and Sunil Rana (greco roman wrestling)


                           Ashwin has been a consistent performer in the last three years. He is

currently the No.1 all-rounder in ICC Test rankings. World No.5 Heena rose to the top of the

international rankings after she won the gold medal in the World Cup finals in Munich last

year. This year she won the gold in the Asian Shooting Championship and silver in the Fort

Benning World Cup.  more >>