Sportstar Aces Awards: Jury meets in Mumbai

The jury comprises former India cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar, former India hockey captain M. M. Somaya, shooter Anjali Bhagwat, Olympian long jumper Anju Bobby George, and N. Ram, the chairman of The Hindu Group.

The Jury (FROM LEFT): Former India hockey captain MM Somaya, shooter Anjali Bhagwat, former India cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar, Olympian long jumper Anju Bobby George, and the chairman of The Hindu Group N. Ram.

The five-member jury for the Sportstar Aces Awards met on Saturday to deliberate on the nominations.

The jury comprises former India cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar, former India hockey captain M. M. Somaya, shooter Anjali Bhagwat, Olympian long jumper Anju Bobby George, and N. Ram, the chairman of The Hindu Group. The jury, with Gavaskar as chairman, discussed the nominations for the 17 award categories.

“We had a tough time because the performances (of different athletes) were on a par for (various) awards,” Gavaskar said.

READ: Everything you need to know about the Sportstar Aces Awards

Anju agreeing to what Gavaskar said, further added, “We considered the performances of 2018, but in some cases, we also had to take previous performances into consideration. There were close competition between some athletes."

Somaya, who led Indian hockey team in the Seoul Olympics in 1988, was happy to see sportsmen from various disciplines being talked about.

“In the last couple of years, India has excelled in various disciplines and not just cricket. In the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, we fared well in many disciplines. The choice was good and it was good that the committee had a broad outlook,” he said.