India’s top sportspersons were presented with the prestigious National sports awards by President Pranab Mukherjee at Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Tennis ace Sania Mirza was conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, and Arunima Sinha, the first female amputee to climb the Mount Everest, received the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award. Arunima lost her left leg after she was thrown out of a moving train in 2011. Sania Mirza became the second tennis player after legendary Leander Paes to get the highest sports award in India.

A total of 17 sports persons were conferred with the Arjuna awards. These included Sandeep Kumar (Archery), shuttler K. Srikanth, Gymnast Dipa Karmakar, P R Sreejesh (Hockey), Manjeet Chhillar and Abhilasha Mhatre  (Kabaddi), shooter Jitu Rai, wrestling duo of Bajrang and Babita, Satish Sivalingam in weightlifting, Yumnam Santhoi Devi , Sharath Gaekwad, Anup Kumar Yama in rollerskating.

The officially announced winners for Dronacharya Awards 2015 are: Coach Anoop Singh for wrestling, Harbans Singh for athletics, Swatantar Raj Singh for boxing, Nihar Ameen for swimming and Naval Singh for athletics – para-sports.

Former Hockey player Romeo James , Former Tennis player Shiv Prakash Mishra and volleyball TPP Nair were given the Dhyan Chand Awards for lifetime contribution to sports development in the country. Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees receive statuettes, citations and cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.