Vidarbha Ranji Trophy all-rounder Aditya Sarvate, ace badminton player Mugdha Agrey, International Master in chess Sankalp Gupta, rising boxing star Alfiya Khan Pathan and noted sports organizer Gajanan Burde will be honoured by the Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) and Raisoni Group of Institutions during the annual sports awards function slated to be held at the Hotel Orient Taibah, opposite Imamwada Police Station, on December 29 at 11 am.
International shooter Tejaswini Sawant will be the chief guest. Chairman of Raisoni Group Sunil Raisoni will preside over the function. Siddhesh Sharma of Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan, Nagpur mayor Sandip Joshi and former Rajya Sabha member Ajay Kumar Sancheti will be the guests of honour.
Besides individual sportspersons, Somalwar Nikalas School, Khamla and LAD College, Gandhi Nagar will be awarded for their contributions in the field of sports.
PRO of Raisoni Group Amit Gandhare, project head of GH Raisoni Sports and Cultural Foundation Dr Mrunal Naik, SJAN president Kishor Bagde and SJAN secretary Suhas Nayse were present at the press conference.
GH Raisoni Trophy, Best Senior Sportsman Aditya Sarvate (Cricket)
Starting as a batsman during his junior days, Aditya Sarvate’s rise as a left-arm spinner is phenomenal. Since breaking through the Vidarbha Ranji Trophy side in 2015, this all-rounder has now become an integral part of defending champions. Last year, he grabbed 55 wickets, the highest in the country to help Vidarbha win successive Ranji Trophy. He is the only Vidarbha bowler to pick up 50 or more wickets in a season. He performed well in Irani Trophy against the star-studded Rest of India side, led by Ajinkya Rahane, which also had India batsman G Hanuma Vihari. Sarvate was also selected in the India A squad for the Sri Lanka series. He also played against Sri Lanka ‘A’.
GH Raisoni Trophy, Best Senior Sportswoman Mugdha Agrey (Badminton)
Mugdha Agrey is the top ranked city shuttler on the world map. The 20-year-old is the third Indian player in the BWF world rankings after PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. After reaching a career-best world ranking of 59 in November, 2019, she has now slipped to world No. 74 in the women’s singles. She was runner-up in the 2019 JE Wilson International Series in Ghana and Lagos International Series in Nigeria. She also won the women’s singles title in the All India Senior Ranking Badminton tournament at Guntur.
GH Raisoni Trophy, Best Junior Sportsman Sankalp Gupta (Chess)
The year 2019 belonged to Sankalp Gupta. Consistent performances in various international rating chess tournaments helped the 16-year-old become Vidarbha’s third International Master after Anup Deshmukh and Raunak Sadhwani. At the Goa International GM tournament in June this year, Sankalp cleared all the requisite formalities to become IM. It took 895 days for Sankalp to earn the coveted IM title after he first cleared a norm in Sweden on January 2, 2017. He is representing India in the World Youth and World Junior Chess Championships for the last two years. His current India rank is 8 in the U-16 open category and is 11th in Asia.
Baidyanath Trophy, Best Junior Female Player Alfiya Khan Pathan (Boxing)
Alfiya Khan Pathan is the only international boxer from the city. The 16-year-old daughter of the police constable made the country proud by winning a gold medal in the above 80-kg category at the Asian Junior Championships recently in UAE, October. Earlier in August, she won bronze medal during the Nation’s Cup in Serbia. In 2018 Serbia edition, she had won a silver medal. The city girl stormed into the limelight by winning the gold medal in the maiden Khelo India Games in 2018. Alfiya has overcome many social barriers before starting her career in contact sports. She has more than 7 gold medals in state meets and 3 silver and 2 gold in national tournaments in her kitty.
Meeradevi Dasture Trophy for Promoting Sports Gajajan Burde (Cycle Polo)
Gajajan Burde has played an important role in keeping the cycle polo game alive in the region. He is the general secretary of All Maharashtra Cycle Polo Association and has conducted several national and international tournaments in the last couple of decades. He has produced many national and international players also from Vidarbha.
KC Bajaj Trophy For Service To Sports (Best College) LAD College, Gandhi Nagar, Centre Point School Trophy (Best School) Somalwar Nikalas High School, Khamla