Sportstar ACES 2024: Mohammed Shami, Sheetal Devi win Sportstar of the Year; Full list of award winners

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR (TRACK AND FIELD): MEN’S RELAY TEAM 

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR (TRACK AND FIELD): PARUL CHAUDHARY 

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR (TEAM SPORTS): HARDIK SINGH, MOHAMMED SHAMI

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR (TEAM SPORTS): VANDANA KATARIYA 

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR (INDIVIDUAL): SATWIKSAIRAJ RANKIREDDY, CHIRAG SHETTY 

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR (INDIVIDUAL): RAMESHBABU VAISHALI, SIFT KAUR SAMRA 

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR (PARASPORTS): SUMIT ANTIL 

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR (PARASPORTS): THULASIMATHI MURUGESAN 

COACH OF THE YEAR: RAHUL DRAVID 

YOUNG ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR (MALE): PRATHAMESH SAMADHAN JAWKAR 

YOUNG ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR (FEMALE): TILOTTAMA SEN 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: CHANDU BORDE, KARNAM MALLESWARI 

SPORTSTAR OF THE YEAR (MALE): NEERAJ CHOPRA 

SPORTSTAR OF THE YEAR (FEMALE): SHEETAL DEVI

NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR: INDIA MEN’S CRICKET TEAM

CLUB/STATE TEAM OF THE YEAR: SAURASHTRA CRICKET TEAM 

MOMENT OF THE YEAR: SHEETAL DEVI HITS THE BULL’S-EYE

INTERNATIONAL ICON: MUTTIAH MURALITHARAN 

BEST STATE FOR THE PROMOTION OF SPORT: TAMIL NADU 

BEST PSU FOR THE PROMOTION OF SPORT: NTPC LTD 

BEST CORPORATE FOR THE PROMOTION OF SPORT: TATA STEEL LTD 

BEST UNIVERSITY FOR THE PROMOTION OF SPORT: SRM INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 

SPORT FOR SOCIAL GOOD: SHRI MATA VAISHNO DEVI SHRINE BOARD 

ACE OF ACES AWARD: ROHAN BOPANNA

Jury Chair, Sunil Gavaskar and Jayen Mehta, Managing Director, Amul will present the Amul International Icon award to Muttiah Muralitharan!!

Murali thanks the jury for bestowing him with the award. He speaks about his times in the school hostel where he spent his childhood watching Indian cricketers.

Murali names Virender Sehwag, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar as the three toughest batters he faced as a bowler.

Viren Rasquinha, Former Indian Hockey Captain & CEO of Olympic Gold Quest and LV Navaneeth, CEO The Hindu Group will present the award.

The award will be presented to Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna!!

Bopanna says he feels extremely proud and humbling to have achieved so much coming from his hometown in Coorg, Karnataka. He adds it feels truly special capping it with a win at the Australian Open.

Bopanna also talks about his comeback after injury in the last few years and speaks about the importance of yoga in his recovery.

Vishwanathan Anand and Ayon Sengupta present Sheetal with her second award of the night as she wins the MOMENT OF THE YEAR!

Sheetal says her favourite moment was seeing the national flag flying high after sealing the medal. She promises to repeat the same during the upcoming Paris Paralympics. 

Jury Member Vishwanathan Anand and Ayon Sengupta will present the award.

And the award goes to.... Sheetal Devi!!

Sheetal says she was a young girl from J&K who loved to go to school. Her life changed when she was taken to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board where her teacher Kuldeep taught her to use the device through which she could participate in archery.

Vishwanathan Anand presents a painting by his son who he says is hugely inspired by Sheetal.

Leander Paes is felicitated for his recent inclusion into Tennis hall of fame. He will co-host the final three award categories.

Chandu Borde and Jayen Mehta, Managing Director, Amul presents the award to the Indian Men’s Cricket Team!!

Ashish Shelar, Treasurer, BCCI and Mohammed Shami receive the award on behalf of the Indian men’s national cricket team.

Shelar speaks about the honour in receiving this award on behalf of the Cricket team, especially from the hands of veteran Chandu Borde. He also highlights the role played by the publication in promotion of the sport and opines that the award is for all cricketers in the country’s cricket pyramid, including the under-age teams.

The second IDFC First Bank Lifetime Achievement award will be present by N. Ram, director of the Hindu Group.

Amitabh Bachchan puts forth his regrets in not being able to make the event in person and announces the winner through a video message.

Veteran cricketer Chandu Borde is presented with the Lifetime Achievement record. 

Chandu Borde jokes that he was selected for this award by Jury Chairman Sunil Gavaskar because he was the selector that named him captain. Chandu continues on in the same vein by saying he is no ODI cricketer to finish his speech off in two minutes. 

Borde also speaks about the excellent job being done by the current Indian team and is cheered up by amount of talent doing the rounds in the country.

The IDFC First Bank Lifetime Achievement award will be presented by N. Murali, director of the Hindu Group.

The lifetime achievement award goes to.....Padma Shri Dr. KARNAM MALLESWARI!!

Malleswari speaks about the lack of facilities during her time and says she did not count any obstacle as a hindrance in her career, including a back-injury in 1998. She thanks her husband who she says went to lengths to provide her with the preparatory needs.

Sunil Gavaskar, Jury Chair and Sam Balsara, Chairman Madison World will present the award.

Sunil Gavaskar highlights the difficulty in picking a winner every year for this prestigious award. He speaks about the joy in seeing the performances of all the athletes during the decision-making process and how inspirational they will be to the younger generation. He wants all the sportspersons to always be grateful of the institution they represent. 

The winner of Sportsman of the Year is MOHAMMED SHAMI!!

Shami says he fully agrees with the points put forth by Gavaskar. He thanks the support which helped him succeed. He speaks about the facilities and the direction that must be provided to the young talented sportspersons to help them succeed in their field. 

Pravin Amre, Former Indian Cricketer and Amol Muzumdar, Head Coach of the Indian Women’s cricket team will present the award.

The winner of the best Club/State team goes to Saurashta Cricket team!!

Jaydev Shah, President Saurashtra Cricket Association thanks Niranjan Shah, stalwart of the SCA for developing the infrastructure for the team to succeed.

Anjali Bhagwat, Former Indian Shooter & Jury member and Priyanka Vempati, Head, Brand & Media, Nippon Paint will present the award.

The winner for Young Achiever is.... TILOTTAMA SEN!!

Tilottama thanks her parents for being there with her through her ups and downs.

Nilesh Kulkarni, Former Indian Cricketer and Suresh Balakrishna, CRO, The Hindu will present the award. 

And the winner is..... PRATHAMESH JAWKAR!!

Prathamesh says this award will remain a core memory for him. He says the other sportspeople in the room seem like ‘tall, tall mountains’ to him and speaks about his pride in being a part of the Indian Archery setup.

Dr. Nirmala Lakshman, Chairperson The Hindu Group, speaks about The Hindu Group’s unwavering support for social good.

The Sport for Social Good award goes to.... SHRI MATA VAISHNO DEVI SHRINE BOARD for their efforts in the promotion of sport apart from their religious duties. 

Shri. Nirmala speaks about the Sports Complex established by the Board which provides support to the youth in preparing for the various Olympic sports. 

Anshul Garg, CEO Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board receives the award on behalf of the winner.

The winner of this category is.... PARUL CHAUDHARY!!

Our steeplechase superstar thanks the organisers for bestowing her with the award.

P.T. Usha, queen of track & field & President of Indian Olympic Association will present the award.

P.T. Usha says it has been an honour to represent the country at multiple level, including the present as President of the IOA. She briefs us about the efforts put in by the government and says she is thankful that such efforts are being recognized. 

And the winner is..... MEN’S RELAY TEAM!

Amoj Jacob spells his joy in sharing the evening with such celebrated sportspeople from across the country. He requests the audience to continue to support them during an all-important Olympic year.

Aparna Popat, Jury member and Suvadeep Sengupta, DGM Sales- West, Nippon Paint will present the award.

The Sportswoman of the Year (Parasports) award goes to... THULASIMATHI MURUGESAN!

Thirumathi thanks the organizers for recognizing her efforts. She thanks her dad who is also her guru and Pullela Gopichand and his academy for the support they have provided.

Suma Shirur, Former Indian Shooter and Ashwini Dua, IOCL will present the award.

And the award goes too...... Sumit Antil!!

Sumit says he will continue to try hard to achieve the same success which he achieved in Tokyo when the Paris Olympics begins this year.

Chess Grandmaster Praveen Thipsay will present the award.

The winner of Sportswoman of the Year is ..... R. Vaishali!!

Vaishali says she feels truly honoured to receive this award and shares her feeling of inspiration to be among all the attendees gathered today.

And the winner is.... SRM INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY!

R. Mohanakrishnan, Director of Sports, receives the award on behalf of the university.

MM Somaya and Ramesh Narayan, Founder Canco Advertising will announce the winner.

The award for Best State for promotion on sport goes to.... TAMIL NADU!

Hon. Udhayanidhi Stalin, Sports minister TN, receives the award on behalf of the State government.

Shri Udhayanidhi thanks the state Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for his support for the development of sport in the state. He also gives his congratulations to the TN team that finished second in the recently held Khelo India Youth Games held in Chennai.

The award goes to.... TATA STEEL LTD!

Sarvesh Kumar, Chief of Corporate Communications, Tata Steel and Mukul Choudhary, CEO Jamshedpur Football Club & Chief of Sportscollect the award.

Vandana Rao Carvalho, Olympian and Usha Girish, General Manager, United India Insurance Co Ltd will present the award.

The winners is.... NTPC LTD!

Neeraj Kapoor, General Manager CSR, NTPC LTD collects the award on behalf of the winners.

“Our athletes have shed their inhibitions and are flying the tricolour high in every corner of the world,” says Ayon Sengupta, Editor, Sportstar.

“Sportstar too has been dreaming the same dream since 1978 and we have been fortunate to have witnessed many of the special moments from Indian sports,” he adds.

“Today is about honouring the heroes and I don’t want to stand in the way between you and your favourite athletes,” he concludes.

The Sportstar Aces Awards 2024 is now underway. Join host Cyrus Sahukar as he takes us through an evening of honouring the best in the sports fraternity!

The Jury Awards are Sportsman of the Year (Individual Sports, Track and Field, Team Sports, Parasports), Sportswoman of the Year (Individual Sports, Track and Field, Team Sports, 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), and Young Achiever of the Year (Girl).

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, which have got over two lakh votes so far.

Anjali Bhagwat, a jury member of the #SSAces2024, speaks on the confident performances of young Indian shooters making their mark in the international arena

Anjali Bhagwat: Role of athletes in popularising the sport a key criterion

Olympic shooter Anjali Bhagwat is particularly pleased with the confident performances of young shooters making their mark in the international arena.

Olympic gold medal winner Abhinav Bindra talks about the delight of being part of the #SSAces2024 jury. 

‘Reliving highs and identifying areas for improvement’ – Abhinav Bindra on Sportstar Aces Awards 2024

During the Sportstar Aces Awards jury meeting, Abhinav Bindra’s way of judging a hotly debated category was to go with a key element of team sports and leadership.

The Sportstar Aces Awards is presented by Amul, powered by IDFC First Bank in association with Indian Oil. The associate partners are LIC India, State Bank of India, Greyon Cosmetic, India Cements, United India Insurance, NTPC, Ramaiah University.

The realty partner is Casagrand, with online grocery partner Big Basket, colour partner Nippon Paint and education partner Christ University. The co-sponsors are Pratiyogita Darpan, SSVM and PSG. Additionally, Signpost is the Digital OOH Partner, NDTV is the Broadcast Partner, Dailyhunt is the Online Streaming Partner and Wordswork is the PR Partner.

Click on the link below to view the live stream of the Sportstar ACES 2024 awards.

There will be 24 categories of awards presented today, among them five Popular Choice and 16 Jury Awards.

There will be a Chairperson’s Award for Sports for Social Good, honouring those who have used sports to make the world a better place and also two special awards -- International Icon and Ace of Aces.

Hello and welcome to the Sportstar ACES 2024 being held at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai. 

Join us as we take you through all the awards in our live blog. Stay Tuned!!