Once a year, India wakes up to the truth that there are more sports played in the country than cricket. That’s the time the Arjuna award nominations are announced. . Here are the sportspersons named in 2015 for their “outstanding achievement in sports”. How many are you familiar with?

Sandeep Kumar: Archery; an Army-man from Pune, in Incheon last year, Kumar, along with his teammates Abhishek Verma and Rajat Chauhan, pulled off a massive upset when they defeated a formidable Korean team to win the men’s compound archery event. It was the first time India had won gold in a bow and arrow event.

MR Poovamma: Athletics ; With a worldwide ranking of 42 in the 400 metre category, won a bronze in the individual women’s 400m race and gold in the 4X400 m relay race at Incheon in 2014.
Mandeep Jangra: Boxing; won silver for India at the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow in the welterweight category.
Rohit Sharma: Cricket ; the first person in the world to score two double centuries in international ODI cricket.
Dipa Karmakar: Gymnastics; At  22, Dipa Karmakar has already created history – she is the first Indian women gymnast, and only the second Indian in the discipline, to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games, grabbing a bronze in the women’s vault event in the 2014 edition.

PR Sreejesh: Hockey; It was Sreejesh’s heroics that led to a famous Indian victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the 2014 Asian Games.
Jitu Rai: Shooting include a silver and a gold at the 2014 ISSF World Cup (the first time an Indian shooter won two medals in a World Cup), a gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and then gold and bronze again at the Asian Games in Incheon.
Sathish Kumar: Weightlifting; won a gold in the 77 kg category and set a new Commonwealth record in 2014 at Glasgow 23-year old from Tamil Nadu.

Bajrang Kumar: Wrestling ; a silver medal in the 61 kg category at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and then won another silver at the Asian Games in Incheon.

Sanathoi Devi: Wushu; from Manipur shrugged off a kidney operation to win a bronze in the women’s Sanda 52 kg category at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
Sharath Gayakwad: Para-Swimming; Sharath Gayakwad broke PT Usha’s record for the largest number of medals won by an Indian at a multi-disciplinary event, winning 6 medals at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
Manjeet Chillar: Kabaddi; Part of the gold-winning Indian team at the 2014 Asian Games and the 2013 Asian Indoor Games,

Sania Mirza was recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, becoming only the second tennis player ever to be named for the country’s highest sporting honour. Sania, currently ranked world number one in women’s doubles, scripted history by becoming the first Indian to clinch a women’s doubles Grand Slam when she partnered Swiss great Martina Hingis for the Wimbledon trophy earlier this year. File picture of

Sania is only the second tennis player after Leander Paes to be named for the top award. Paes had been bestowed the honour way back in 1996 after his bronze medal in the Atlanta Olympics.

The 28-year-old, who has won three mixed doubles Grand Slams in her career, beat competition from squash player Deepika Pallikal, discus thrower Vikas Gowda, track and field star Tintu Luka, rising shuttler P V Sindhu, and hockey captain Sardar Singh for the coveted honour. Besides doing well on the professional circuit, Sania had also won the gold medal and the bronze medal in the mixed and women’s doubles categories of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

The Hyderabadi girl had won the Arjuna award in 2004 and was the favourite for the top award this year. In 2006, she was bestowed the Padma Shri — the country’s fourth highest civillian honour. Sania’s mixed doubles trophies had come in the Australian Open (2009), French Open (2012) and US Open (2014).