Not in the sky.. Meet the stars on ground.. Sportstar Aces Awards celebrate the sportspersons of the Year!

Mumbai, February 15: Celebrating the achievements of legendary sportspersons from India, Sportstar Aces awards function took place in Mumbai on February 14. Winners across generations came under one roof as from legendary Badminton player Prakash Padukone to young athletes Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker were bestowed with the honours.

Badminton maestro Prakash Padukone was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the function. The award was presented by equally legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. Being emotional on his special achievement Padukone’s family was all smiles and emotional at the same time. The ceremony was attended by his wife Ujjala, beloved daughter Deepika and son-in-law Ranveer.

In the Cricket category, India skipper Virat Kohli and pacer Jasprit Bumrah were declared as joint winners for Sportsman of the Year award, while Indian women's cricket team opener Smriti Mandhana was named the Sportswoman of the Year.

In racquet sports, nine-time national championships winner paddler Sharath Kamal won the Sportsman of the Year award and Olympic silver medallist shuttler P V Sindhu and paddler Manika Batra were declared joint winners of Sportswoman of the Year award.

 

For their fascinating track record, Young javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra got the Sportsman of the Year award, while athlete Hima Das bagged the Sporswoman of the Year award in the track and field category.

For their consistent performances, in other Individual Sport category, Mary Kom and Vinesh Phogat won the Sportswoman of the year award while Bajrang Punia was bestowed with the Sportsman of the Year award.

Parathletes swimmer Suyash Jadhav, Badminton player Manoj Sarkar and athlete Deepa Malik were also honoured with the precious awards.

Youngsters Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker were named the young athletes of the year.

 

The awards jury consisted of Sunil Gavaskar, M M Somaiya, Anju Bobby George, Anjali Bhagwat and journalist N Ram. The awards which ran from 1994 to 2003 in their first stint, were re-instituted as Sportsstar celebrated its 40th birthday in 2018.