Telecast on Star Sports, ISH is an initiative intended to reward excellence in sports and identify and support athletes with potential and ward them scholarships
Mumbai: National sports icons, luminaries and celebrities came together to honour the sports heroes of the country at the inaugural edition of Indian Sports Honours (ISH) 2017 held in Mumbai. Dedicated to rewarding excellence in the field of sports across the country, the ceremony was telecast on the Star Sports network.
Badminton stars P.V. Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi bagged the Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year awards, respectively, in the Individual Sport category.
Whilst, cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin and Indian Women’s Cricket Team captain Mithali Raj were awarded Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards, respectively, in the Team Sport category.
The gallant Indian Women’s Cricket Team, which gave England a tough match at the finals of the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup, were named Team of the Year.
Tennis icon Sania Mirza was awarded Inspirational Honour by the jury, while Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra was honoured with the Transformational Contribution to Sport award.
Indian Sports Honours is an initiative partnered by Virat Kohli and Sanjiv Goenka, in line with their vision to support the development of Indian sports. The selection process is overseen by a group of eminent sports journalists, celebrated sporting legends and even fans, who get to directly pick the heroes the want to felicitate.
Sanjay Gupta, MD, Star India said, “I commend the efforts of Virat Kohli Foundation and RP-SG to honour sports heroes. Star Sports is proud to be a partner in this initiative. Our society values text book learning and qualification-driven education much more than sports. On an average, children in India get to play for only 3 to 5 minutes per day, which is quite insufficient and not good for the development of the next generation. I am certain that the Indian Sports Honours will not only inspire the young but also act as a catalyst for changing the mind-sets of both our parents and teachers towards sports and build a healthier eco-system for it to flourish.”
Complete list of honours:
Main Honours (SJFI – EnY Process)
Sportsman of the year (Individual sport) – Srikanth Kidambi
Sportsman of the year (Team sport) – Ravichandran Ashwin
Sportswoman of the year (Individual sport) – P.V. Sindhu
Sportswoman of the year (Team sport) – Mithali Raj
Team of the year (Men/Women) – Indian Women’s Cricket Team
Coach of the year – Bisveshwar Nandi
Emerging Sportswoman of the year – Aditi Ashok
Emerging Sportsman of the year – Neeraj Chopra
Differently abled Sportsman of the year – Devendra Jhajaria
Differently abled Sportswoman of the year – Deepa Malik
Jury Honours
Keep Walking Honour for Lifetime achievement – Balbir Singh
Inspirational Honour – Sania Mirza
Transformational Contribution to Sport – Abhinav Bindra
Popular choice Honours
Breakthrough performance of the year – Hardik Pandya
Star Sports ‘Believe’ Honour (Comeback of the year) – SainaNehwal
Spirit of Sport – Yogeshwar Dutt
Play of the year – Sunil Chhetri
Club of the year – Mumbai Indians
Best Fan Club – Manjappada Kerala Blasters
VKF Athlete Development Programme – Scholarship Athletes
SumitNagal – Tennis
Karman Kaur Thandi – Tennis
Diya Dhayal – Archery
Shivani Kataria – Swimming
Swastika Ghosh – Table Tennis
AadilBedi – Golf
Aryamann Tandon – Badminton
