The Sportstar Aces Awards are back for a fifth chapter, seeking to honour incredible performances in sports across various disciplines.
Among the many Popular Choice honours open to public voting is the coveted Sportstar of the Year (Male) award and the nominee list is packed with super achievers from across the spectrum of sport.
- VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE SPORTSPERSONS AHEAD OF THE SPORTSTAR ACES AWARDS. CLICK HERE.
Achanta Sharath Kamal (table tennis), Neeraj Chopra (Athletics), Suryakumar Yadav (Cricket), Lakshya Sen (Badminton) and D Gukesh (Chess) are the Indian sportsmen nominated for the honour.
Sharath Kamal is playing some of his best table tennis at 40. He won four medals (three golds and one silver) at the Commonwealth Games, landing a medal in every category he participated in. He regained the men’s singles gold after 16 long years, having topped the podium in his maiden CWG outing in 2006. Before a historic Commonwealth Games campaign, Sharath won a record-improving 10th National singles title by dethroning G. Sathiyan, a worthy rival 10 years younger, in an enthralling title clash in Shillong. For the record, in 20 seasons, Sharath has figured in 15 finals, winning 10 of them. He became the first Indian to get elected to the Athletes’ Commission of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). He was also named the vice-chairman of the Athletes’ Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). His accomplishments earned up the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna honour.
Neeraj Chopra’s consistency on the international stage continued in 2022. He finished on the podium in every event he participated in, finishing 2022 with a silver in the World Championships. He became the first Indian to win the Diamond League final in Zurich. He also broke his own national record at the Stockholm Diamond League with a throw of 89.94m. His results helped him finish 2022 as World no.2
Suryakumar Yadav had a charmed year in the shortest format of the game, finishing the year with the most runs in T20Is - 1,164 runs in 31 outings featuring two centuries and nine fifties - and the number one ranking too. His consistency made him one of the most sought-after batting lineup assets, especially for the national team during the T20 World Cup. He has a best score of 117 in 2022 in the format.
Lakshya Sen started the year with the BWF Super 500 title at the India Open. He followed that up with a runner-up finish at the All England Open, making him the first Indian male shuttler to play the Super Series Premier final since Pullela Gopichand won the title in 2001. He was a key part of India’s maiden Thomas Cup triumph and was particularly crucial in the final against Indonesia where India prevailed 3-0. Lakshya followed this with his maiden Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham, beating Malaysia’s Tze Young NG 19-21, 21-9, 21-16. With the win, he joined an elite list of Indian male Commonwealth Games gold medallists — a club that includes Prakash Padukone (1978), Syed Modi (1982) and Parupalli Kashyap (2014).
D Gukesh broke a number of records in 2022. He became only the sixth Indian to break the 2700 Elo rating mark and the youngest Indian Grandmaster to be rated above 2700. Gukesh had a great Chess Olympiad, with a stunning 2867 Elo rating performance. He won gold on the first board with a record-breaking 9.0/11 score. That helped him break into the world’s top 20. Gukesh is also the youngest player to beat Magnus Carlsen since the latter became world champion when he beat the Norwegian in the Aimchess Rapid Tournament.
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