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It was an evening of nostalgia and celebration when the Sportstar Aces awards were given away in Mumbai, where Kapil Dev was feted for Lifetime Achievement.

In this issue

08-02-202030 STORIES

Number game: Conventional wisdom states that Roger Federer is “the greatest” simply because he boasts the most Grand Slam titles, 20.

What are the right criteria to pick the tennis GOAT?

What should the criteria be? What weight should be attached to each criterion? And what should not be considered as valid criteria?

Paul Fein

The Indian team flew to New Zealand five days after it concluded the ODI series against Australia.

Virat Kohli piles on captaincy records in 2020

India captain Virat Kohli crossed the 1,000 run-mark in T20 internationals as captain during the Indore clash against Sri Lanka in January.

Failures are often more interesting than successes in sport; it is Don Bradman’s final innings zero that grabs the imagination in the context of his incredible successes overall.

The absence of long-form sports essay in India

John Grisham, better known in another genre, brings together the essence of the long-form essay: deep research, sensitivity, compassion, and a gift fo

Suresh Menon

Virender Sehwag delivers the M. A. K. Pataudi lecture at the BCCI Awards. (File Photo)

On The Write Line

BCCI awards and Sportstar Aces 2020: A week of recognition

After a week of sports awards in the country, one wonders if it’s only a departed player that one will be named after.

Sunil Gavaskar

N. Murali, chairman, Kasturi and Sons (third from left) with jury members (from left) Aparna Popat; Anjali Bhagwat; Sunil Gavaskar; N. Ram, chairman, the Hindu Group Publishing; and M. M. Somaya. Jury member Viswanathan Anand could not make it to the function.

Sportstar Aces Awards 2020: What the jury said

Here's what Sunil Gavaskar, Aparna Popat, Anjali Bhagwat, M. M. Somaya and Viswanathan Anand had to say about picking the winners.

Sportstar Aces 2020 awards function in Mumbai on January 12. It was indeed an august gathering of mainly sports VVIPs.

When aces were rewarded

It was an evening of nostalgia and celebration when the Sportstar Aces Awards, celebrating excellence in sports, were given away in Mumbai.

Shreedutta Chidananda

Marnus Labuschagne had a terrific 2019 that saw him amass 896 runs in five home Tests at an average of 112 with four hundreds and three fifties, including a fine show at the Ashes.

Labuschagne: Five-day Test cricket amazing the way it is

Australia's No. 3 Test batsman Marnus Labuschagne, who was the highest run-getter in Tests in 2019, isn't in favour of the proposed four-day Tests.

Ayan Acharya

Sindhu claimed the biggest title in the game at the 2019 World Championships.

P. V. Sindhu named Sportstar of the Year at Aces 2020 Awards

India’s top-ranked badminton player P. V. Sindhu won the prestigious Sportstar of the Year award at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monday.

Kapil Dev captained India to its first ODI World Cup title in 1983.

Kapil Dev wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award

Legendary Indian cricketer Kapil Dev was conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monday.

Smith dominated the Ashes in England in 2019, despite missing one Test because of an injury.

Steve Smith wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Chairman’s Choice Award

Australian cricketer Steve Smith was awarded the Chairman’s Choice Award at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monday.

Gopichand’s contributions to Indian sports is invaluable, having produced several notable shuttlers over the years at the Gopichand Badminton Academy. Ramesh’s wards Divya Deshmukh, R. Vaishali, Aravindh Chithambaram were among the medal winners during the calendar year.

Pullela Gopichand, R.B. Ramesh win Sportstar Aces 2020 Coach of the Year

Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand and chess coach R. B. Ramesh were joint winners of the Coach of the Year title at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monda

Rakesh Rao,V. V. Subrahmanyam

Rohit Sharma statustically had his best year across formats, scoring more than any player in the calendar year.

Rohit Sharma wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportsman of the Year in cricket

India opener Rohit Sharma was the recipient of the Sportstar Aces Sportsman of the Year in cricket for the year 2019.

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Smriti Mandhana was India’s leading run-scorer in 2019, both in One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 cricket.

Smriti Mandhana wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportswoman of the Year award in cricket

Indian cricketer Smriti Mandhana was conferred with the Sportstar Aces Sportswoman of the Year award in cricket.

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya

Deep Grace Ekka is a natural leader and has excellent tactical understanding of the game.

Deep Grace Ekka wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportswoman of the Year in team sports

India hockey defender Deep Grace Ekka won the Sportswoman of the Year in team sports, beating her teammate Lalremsiami and footballer Ngangom Bala Dev

Manpreet Singh has been the Indian captain since the 2018 World Cup.

Manpreet Singh wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportsman of the Year in team sports

Indian hockey team captain Manpreet Singh won the Sportsman of the Year in team sports at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monday.

Mehuli Ghosh bettered the senior world record at the 2019 South Asian Games to clinch gold.

Mehuli Ghosh wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Young Athlete of the Year (Female)

Teenage shooting sensation Mehuli Ghosh won the female Young Athlete of the Year at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monday.

Praggnanandhaa, as the 21st seed, won the Xtracon Chess Open in Helsingor, Denmark, in July. Esow Alben won three gold medals – in the team sprint with an Asian record, the individual sprint and the keirin – at the Asian Championships in Indonesia in 2019.

Praggnanandhaa, Esow Alben win Sportstar Aces 2020 Young Athlete of the Year (Male)

Chess prodigy R. Praggnanandhaa and cyclist Esow Alben were joint winners of the Young Athlete of the Year prize at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monda

Rakesh Rao,Shyam Vasudevan

India won 11 of the 14 series across formats while also reaching the semifinals of the 50-over World Cup.

Indian men's cricket team wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Team of the Year

Indian men’s cricket team took home the Team of the Year award, beating Bengaluru Football Club, the Indian women’s hockey team and Pro Kabaddi’s Beng

Odisha had hosted five international events last year and 13 athletes from the state had won international medals across sport.

Odisha wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Best State for Promotion of Sports

Odisha won the Best State for Promotion of Sports award at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monday.

Bajrang Punia won the third World Wrestling Championships medal of his career last year.

Bajrang Punia wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportsman of the Year in individual sports

Wrestler Bajrang Punia took home the prize of the Sportsman of the Year in individual sports, beating cue sports player Pankaj Advani and boxer Amit P

Humpy was crowned the Women’s World Rapid champion in December. Shortly before that, she won the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series. Apurvi She won a World Cup gold medal in the 10m air rifle event in New Delhi in 2019, with a world record 252.9 that still stands in her name. She also won gold at the World Cup in Munich, with a high qualification score of 633.0.

Apurvi Chandela, Koneru Humpy win Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportswoman of the Year in individual sports

Chess player Koneru Humpy and shooter Apurvi Chandela shared the award for the Sportswoman of the Year in individual sports at the Sportstar Aces Awar

A legend in the world of cue sports, Advani recently won his record 23rd world title at the IBSF World Snooker Team event. With that win, Advani has now won every IBSF title.

Pankaj Advani wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Special Jury Award

Pankaj Advani was presented with the special jury prize at the Sportstar Aces Awards in Mumbai on Monday.

Leander Paes is one of the most successful doubles players in the history of tennis, having won 18 Grand Slam titles. A recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award, Paes won eight Grand Slams in doubles and 10 in mixed doubles.

Leander Paes wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Special Recognition Award

Leander Paes was presented with the Special Recognition Award at the Sportstar Aces Awards in Mumbai on Monday.

The number of international medals won by IOCL-supported sportspersons in 2019 is 84 (31 gold, 23 silver and 30 bronze), while the number of national medals claimed by IOCL athletes last year is 41 (21 gold, 10 silver, 10 bronze).

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Best Corporate/PSU for the Promotion of Sports

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) won the Best Corporate/PSU for the Promotion of Sports award at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monday.

Aashin Prasad

Sai Praneeth become the first Indian shuttler since Prakash Padukone to win a medal at the BWF World Championships.

Sai Praneeth wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportsman of the Year in racquet sports

Badminton player B. Sai Praneeth claimed the Sportsman of the Year in racquet sports at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monday.

Avinash Sable won silver at the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha.

Avinash Sable wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportsman of the Year in athletics

Steeplechase runner Avinash Sable capped a record-breaking 2019 by bagging the Sportsman of the Year in athletics at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Mond

Annu Rani won silver at the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha.

Annu Rani wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportswoman of the Year in athletics

Javelin thrower Annu Rani was named Sportstar Aces Sportswoman of the Year in athletics for her phenomenal feats in 2019.

Pramod Bhagat is currently India’s No. 1 men’s para-badminton player.

Pramod Bhagat wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportsman of the Year (Parasports)

Para-badminton player Pramod Bhagat won the Para-Sportsman of the Year award at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monday.

Ekta Bhyan was placed fourth at the recent World Para Athletics Championships, which helped her qualify for the 2020 Paralympics.

Ekta Bhyan wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Sportswoman of the Year (Parasports)

Para-club throw athlete Ekta Bhyan claimed the Para-Sportswoman of the Year award at the Sportstar Aces Awards on Monday.

SRIHER had a total fund allocation of ₹14 crores for sports in 2019. Fifty-two students were sponsored under the university’s sports quota.

Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research wins Sportstar Aces 2020 Best University for the Promotion of Sports

The Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER) won the Best University for the Promotion of Sports award at the Sportstar Ace

Aashin Prasad

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