Nagaland's Hokato Hotozhe Sema Wins Arjuna Award For Outstanding Sports Performance In 2024

KOHIMA: Paralympics bronze medallist from Nagaland, Hokato Hotozhe Sema, has been named as a recipient of the Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games for 2024. The announcement was made by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Thursday. The President of India will present the awards during a special ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17 at 11 AM.

Hokato secured a bronze medal in the men’s shot put F57 category at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.

The Arjuna Award recognizes exceptional performance in sports over the past four years, along with qualities such as leadership, sportsmanship, and discipline.

The ministry noted that the awardees were selected based on recommendations from a committee chaired by Justice (Retd.) V. Ramasubramanian, with members including eminent sportspersons, veteran sports journalists, and administrators. This year, 31 sportspersons will receive the Arjuna Award.

For the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy, which honors the top-performing university in the Khelo India University Games, Chandigarh University has been declared the winner. Lovely Professional University is the first runner-up, while Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, secured the second runner-up position.

Meanwhile, World Chess champion Gukesh D and Paris Olympics and Paralympics medallists - Manu Bhaker (shooting), Harmanpreet Singh (hockey) and Praveen Kumar (para-athlete) are to be conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024 by President of India Droupadi Murmu at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced on Thursday.

Apart from the Khel Ratna, the Sports Ministry also named a 32-athlete list for the Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2024. The list includes Jyothi Yarraji, Annu Rani, Nitu, Saweety, Vantika Agrawal, Salima Tete, Abhishek, Sanjay, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Rakesh Kumar, Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari, Dharambir, Pranav Soorma, H Hokato Sema, Simran, Navdeep, Nitesh Kumar, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, Manisha Ramadass, Kapil Parmar, Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis, Swapnil Suresh Kusale, Sarabjot Singh, Abhay Singh, Sajan Prakash and Aman.

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