Sakshi Malik miffed at being snubbed for Arjuna Award

Wrestler Sakshi Malik was left unhappy after getting snubbed for the Arjuna Award. The sports ministry left out Sakshi and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu of the Arjuna list.

 “I always wanted to be named Arjuna awardee Sakshi Malik. The athletes do everything to win such accolades. He or she wants to win all the awards. That’s what motivates us,” the 27-year-old told IANS.

Sakshi Malik feels helpless

Sakshi said she feels helpless after missing out from so close. She further mentioned it was her dream to win Arjuna. The wrestler said that she doesn’t know what she needs do to for Arjuna. She showed happiness on winning Khel Ratna in 2016. A fuming Sakshi pressed that winning Arjuna was her dream.

The committee reportedly felt that including Sakshi and Mirabai will come at a cost of two deserving candidates.

Their inclusion attracted much criticism given they have already won the highest sporting honour. Back in May, Sakshi and Mirabai gave their applications for Arjuna citing that state governments don’t recognise the Khel Ratna for jobs and other perks.

The Khel Ratna award recommendation also saw no further inclusion or exclusion.

Interestingly, the Justice (retd) Mukundakam Sharma-led committee left the duo’s name for acceptance to the discretion of Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.