National awards for Asiad performers

New Delhi: The Union Sports Ministry is open to the idea of considering outstanding performers of next month's Asian Games for this year's National Sports Awards, which will be held on September 25 instead of the conventional August 29 to ensure that athletes don't miss out due to their participation in the continental showpiece.

Every year, the National Sports Awards ceremony is held on August 29 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand as the National Sports Day.

The Asian Games will be held in the Indonesian twin cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

Sports Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar said the decision was taken to ensure maximum participation from sportspersons and the Sports Ministry has already received a green signal from the Rashtrapati Bhawan on the change of dates.

"The Sports Ministry has decided to shift the date as it coincides with the Asian Games. We want maximum participation from athletes, coaches and officials at the awards ceremony so we wrote to Rashtrapati Bhawan, requesting for the change of date," Bhatnagar told PTI.

The official also confirmed that performances at the Asian Games will be considered for the sports awards.

"The athletes who will receive the sports awards this year have already been selected on the basis of their entries received before 30 April. But the government has provision to name outstanding sportspersons of Asian Games to the recommendation committee," Bhatnagar said.