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The Indian hockey goalkeeper's wife Dr Aneeshya received the prize from former world chess champions Viswanathan Anand.
The three final contenders determined via online/SMS voting are (in alphabetical order): K V Athulya (football), S Soorya (volleyball), and P R Sreejesh (hockey).
The six final contenders picked by an expert panel are: P R Sreejesh (hockey), Sanju Samson (cricket), S Soorya (volleyball), Sandra Babu (athletics), Nihal Sarin (chess), and K V Athulya (football).
Jarmanpreet Singh (22') and Harmanpreet Singh (57') were the goal scorers for India while Victor Charlet (16', 59'), Victor Lockwood (35'), Charles Masson (48'), Timothee Clement (60') struck for the winners.
Sreejesh beat competition from sports climber Alberto Gins Lopez of Spain and Italy's wushu player Michele Giordano for the award.
Manpreet Singh will lead the 20-member Indian team.
The 33-year-old, who hails from Kochi, used to represent Uttar Pradesh Wizards in the Hockey India League. The last edition of the HIL was played in 2017.
The other prominent Khel Ratna winners this year include Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and Olympic silver-medallist wrestler Ravi Dahiya and hockey team captain Manpreet Singh.
"We shared a few moments together and I wished him more laurels," wrote Vijayan in his Facebook post.
Both the athletes will also be sharing anecdotes from their journey and playing a game of hockey on the sets with the host Amitabh Bachchan.