Madhya Pradesh: Trio of players and coach set to receive National Sports Award; Arjuna Award to Aishwary, Prachi and Sushila; Hockey coach Shivendra will get Dronacharya

Year end of 2023 bestows joy to the players of Madhya Pradesh. For the first time, three players and one coach from Madhya Pradesh will be honoured with the National Sports Award. Olympic player Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar of MP State Shooting Academy, Sushri Prachi Yadav of Para Canoeing and former player of Madhya Pradesh Women’s Hockey Academy and star player of Indian Hockey Team Sushri Sushila Chanu will be honoured with Arjun Award. Indian hockey team coach Shri Shivendra Singh will be honoured with the Dronacharya Award.

President Smt. Draupadi Murmu will present the National Sports Awards to the players who have performed outstandingly in the field of sports on 9 January 2024 at 11 am at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar - Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy’s star shooter Aishwary was the most successful Indian athlete in the Asian Games held this year. He won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal in the Asian Games. Also, Aishwary Pratap Singh made a world record and won a silver medal in the 50m rifle three position men’s singles event.

Prachi Yadav - Para canoeist Prachi Yadav of Madhya Pradesh has qualified for Paris Para Olympics. She recently qualified for the Paris Olympics by finishing fourth at the ICF Sprint and Para Canoe World Championships, Germany. Prachi is first athlete from India to achieve quota for Paris Para Olympics.

Sushila Chanu - Sushila, an excellent player of the first batch of Madhya Pradesh Women’s Hockey Academy, Gwalior, has acquired many achievements. The Indian team won the bronze medal under the captaincy of Sushila in the Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup held in Germany. She played an important role in helping the Indian team win the bronze medal in the 2014 Asian Games. Sushila was the captain of the Indian team in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Shivendra Singh - Shivendra Singh of Madhya Pradesh is currently included in the coaching staff of the Indian hockey team. He has played about 160 international matches and has scored about 80 goals.