Dommaraju Gukesh has been nominated for the ‘Popular Choice - Sportstar of the Year (Male)’ award for the upcoming Aces Awards 2023.
Gukesh, once the second-youngest Grandmaster in history (now the third-youngest overall) had a year to remember as the teenager went on to break several records in 2022.
In March, Gukesh became only the sixth Indian to break the 2700 Elo rating mark and the youngest Indian Grandmaster to be rated above 2700.
The Chennai lad achieved this feat after defeating GM Le Quang Liem in the Biel Chess Festival.
- ⦿ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SPORTSTAR ACES AWARDS. CLICK HERE.
At 16 years 1 month and 7 days, Gukesh also became the third youngest in the world to be rated above 2700.
In August, while representing India in the 44th Chess Olympiad at Mahabalipuram, the 16-year-old stunned the world with his phenomenal 2867 Elo rating performance. He clinched the gold medal on the first board with a record-breaking score of 9.0/11. In the same month, he broke into the top 20 in the world ranking.
Playing in the Turkish Isbank Chess Super League, Gukesh reached his career-best ranking (World No. 18) in live rankings and 2735.9 as per live ratings.
Later in October, in the Aimchess Rapid tournament, Gukesh became the youngest player to defeat Magnus Carlsen since the latter became world champion, in an online tournament.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ACES AWARDS 2023
There are 27 categories of awards this year – five Popular Choice and 22 Jury awards.
The five Popular Choice awards are Sportsman of the Year, Sportswoman of the Year, National Team of the Year, Club Team of the Year and Sporting Moment of the Year.
The Jury awards are Sportsman of the Year (Cricket, Racquet Sports, Individual Sports, Track and Field, Team Sports, Parasports), Sportswoman of the Year (Cricket, Racquet Sports, Individual Sports, Team Sports, Track and Field, Parasports), Coach of the Year, Best State for Promotion of Sports, Best Corporate for Promotion of Sports, Best PSU for Promotion of Sports, Best College/University for Promotion of Sports, Lifetime Achievement Award, Young Achiever of the Year (Boy), Young Achiever of the Year (Girl), Best Talent Mentor (Grassroots Coach).
A new award called the Spirit of Sport is also being introduced. It will look at rewarding deeds of great sportsmanship.
There will also be a separate Chairperson’s Award for Sports for the Social Good, which will honour individuals or organisations that have used the power of sports to make our world a better place.
The event is powered by IDFC First Bank and supported by Indian Oil, India Cements, United India, Ramaiah University, Experimenta Science Center GD Naidu Charity, Finolex Pipes, LIC, BPCL, Samsonite, Big Basket, Nippon Paint, CRICHQ, Casagrand and Wordswork.
