Mumbai, February 13, 2025: The prestigious Sportstar Aces Awards 2025 is back with its seventh edition as the biggest sports personalities of India are set to be honoured for their incredible performances in 2024.
The awards will be held at the Taj Mahal Palace, Colaba, Mumbai on February 14 and will be attended by star athletes from various sports like double Olympic medallists P. V. Sindhu and Manu Bhaker, former hockey goalkeeper P. R.Sreejesh, chess star Divya Deshmukh, para athlete Navdeep Singh and many more. Also gracing the event will be ICC Chair Jay Shah.
2024 was a remarkable year for Indian sports on the world stage. The men’s cricket team clinched the ICC T20 World Cup trophy while athletes shone at the Paris Summer Olympics winning six medals and claiming 29 medals in the Paralympics. In chess, India’s men’s and women’s teams won gold at the Olympiad in Budapest and D. Gukesh became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion.
Apart from the five Popular Awards, there are 17 awards which are chosen by the Jury presided by Sunil Gavaskar, M. M. Somaya, Abhinav Bindra, Viswanathan Anand, Anjali Bhagwat and Aparna Popat. The Popular Awards – Sportstar of the Year (male), Sportstar of the Year (female), National Team of the Year, Club/State Team of the Year and Sporting Moment of the Year – are chosen by fans through voting polls.
Sharing his experience as a jury member, Abhinav Bindra said, “We’re at a time in our nation’s history where we’re either consuming or playing sport. Both numbers are at historic highs. As a jury then, we always have to look at decisions from this perspective. The exercise this time gave us a chance to recognise and reflect on what India’s sporting culture looks like.”
Speaking about the awards, Ayon Sengupta, Editor, Sportstar, said, “With the Paris Olympics and Paralympics in 2024, it was a historic year in sports for India and I am sure the jury had a hard time selecting the winners. With the seventh edition, we wanted to ensure we continue to focus on not just the marquee sports but all disciplines. Especially with India doing tremendously well in chess, it was important for us to highlight it as well. I thank the jury members for their continuous support and expertise over the years and also the fans for voting for their favourites.”
