The player who was awarded with Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Padma Shri is
- (a)Abhinav Bindra
- (b)Sachin Tendulkar
- (c)Prakash Padukone
- (d)Pullela Gopichand
Correct — D, Pullela Gopichand. The former badminton champion and national coach is one of very few Indians to have received all four honours: the Arjuna Award (1999) as a player, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2000-01), the Padma Shri (2005) and the Dronacharya Award (2009) as a coach. The Dronacharya — a coaching award — is the clincher that rules the others out. (The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna was renamed the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2021.)
- (a)Abhinav Bindra — Holds the Arjuna Award, the Khel Ratna and the Padma Bhushan, but not the Dronacharya Award — that honour is for coaches, and he competed rather than coached.
- (b)Sachin Tendulkar — Received the Arjuna Award, the Khel Ratna, the Padma Shri and later the Bharat Ratna — but never the Dronacharya (coaching) Award.
- (c)Prakash Padukone — A badminton great honoured with the Arjuna Award and Padma Shri, but he did not receive either the Khel Ratna or the Dronacharya Award.
India's sporting honours have distinct purposes: the Arjuna Award (for a consistently outstanding player), the Dronacharya Award (for coaches), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna — now the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna — (the highest sporting honour) and the Padma awards (civilian honours). Very few people hold both a player's award and the coaching Dronacharya; Pullela Gopichand did, because he first excelled as an All England champion and then as a national coach.
The decisive clue is the Dronacharya Award, a coaching honour. Only someone who was both a top player and a top coach could hold Arjuna + Khel Ratna + Dronacharya together — which points to Gopichand.
- Pullela Gopichand: Arjuna (1999), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2000-01), Padma Shri (2005), Dronacharya (2009).
- The Dronacharya Award honours coaches; the Arjuna and Khel Ratna honour players.
- The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna was renamed the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2021.
- Gopichand won the All England Open Badminton Championship in 2001.
- Assuming a famous player automatically holds the Dronacharya (coaching) Award
- Mixing up Padma Shri with Padma Bhushan for individual athletes
Asked as 'who won awards X, Y and Z' or match award to person — use the Dronacharya (coach) clue to single out player-coaches like Gopichand.
Consider the following pairs with regard to sports awards : 1. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award : For the most spectacular and outstanding performance by a sportsperson over period of last four years 2. Arjuna Award : For the lifetime achievement by a sportsperson 3. Dronacharya Award : To honour eminent coaches who have successfully trained sportspersons or teams 4. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar : To recognize the contribution made by sportspersons even after their retirement How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) Only three
- (d) All four
Answer(b) Only two
Same concept — the purposes of the Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dronacharya awards, exactly the honours this question ties to one person.
Which player was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award – 2022?
- (a) Manika Batra
- (b) Kamlesh Mehta
- (c) Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
- (d) Sharath Kamal
Answer(d) Sharath Kamal
Same award family — MPPSC tested who won the Khel Ratna, one of the four honours listed here.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Dronacharya Award in India is given for excellence in:
- (a)Playing performance
- (b)Coaching
- (c)Sports administration
- (d)Umpiring
Answer(b) Coaching — it honours outstanding coaches.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award was renamed in 2021 after:
- (a)Major Dhyan Chand
- (b)Milkha Singh
- (c)Sardar Patel
- (d)C. K. Nayudu
Answer(a) Major Dhyan Chand.