Arjuna Awardee and Bharat Kesari Divya Kakran is a renowned name in the wrestling world, with numerous other international winnings including, Commonwealth and Asian games. However, her journey and rise were never as easy as it seems. Her father had to sell langots in the akhara’s and her family relied on her winnings which she used to get by winning various dangals.
After meeting with a terrible accident both of Suyash’s hands had to be amputated, but his will to swim was greater than stop and cry on his fate. With the help and support of his father, he practiced day and night. Now, he is the recipient of Arjuna Award and is the sole Indian Paraswimmer to qualify for the 2016 Paralympic games in Rio.
“A man’s thinking makes him paralyzed, not his physical deformity” Manish was too young and naive to understand the importance of his father’s statement at the time, but when he did understand, there was no stopping him. A physical deformity and several hardships was never enough to stop him from winning 19 National and 17 International medals in just three years.
The 2019 Arjuna Awardee Pooja Dhanda took up judo initially but then took up wrestling full time. From winning commonwealth games to Asian championships, facing a terrible injury, recovering from it and then winning the World Wrestling Championship in 2018 and becoming the only fourth woman to a world championship medal, she has seen various highs and lows, but she is determined to win the olympics for her country.
Halfback player Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, popularly known as “Chinglen” among the masses, won the Arjuna award in the year 2019 for his significant contribution to the hockey sport. Being named as the standby player in the 2011 champions trophy to winning gold in the year 2014 Asian games his life has been quite a journey.
Aditi Ashok is one of the many Indian women golfers who have made a name for themselves over the last decade. She was one of the 27 awardees and the only golfer on the list to win the Arjuna Award in the year 2020. After winning the 2016 Hero Women’s Indian Open, the 22-year-old became the first Indian to win a Ladies European Tour title. She has also competed in the 2016 Olympics.