Badminton News: Table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal and badminton player Lakshya Sen won the Sportsman of the Year (Racket Sport) award at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on Monday.

At 40, Sharath is having one of the best years of his career in 2022. He knocked out all of his competitors at the 2022 Commonwealth Games en route to four medals (three gold and one silver), winning a medal in each category. he entered. in the.

“It is an honor to be in this room. As Sania Mirza said, Sportsstar appeared every two weeks. The poster was among them. He dreams of being on the bill but for me, I was just blown away to see the champion. Léandre with his fists and his aggressive face. It’s just a dream come true for me to share this space with all of you,” Sharath said.

He regained the men’s singles gold medal after 16 years, winning it in 2006 in his first Commonwealth Games appearance. Sharath beat local favorite and top-ranked Liam Pitchford to win his second singles gold. Along with Sreeja Akula, she gave India the mixed doubles gold medal for the first time at the Commonwealth Games. He led the Indian team, which won gold in the men’s team event, while he and Sathiyan failed to win gold in the men’s doubles, losing to Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall in final.

Earlier in the year, Sharath won a record 10th national singles title by dethroning G. Sathiyan, a worthy rival 10 years his junior, in a thrilling title fight at Shillong. In 20 seasons, Sharath appeared in 15 finals, winning 10 of them.

Kamal was also the first Indian to be elected to the Athletes’ Commission of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). He was also appointed Vice Chairman of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Athletes Commission.

Sharath received the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Major Award, the country’s highest honor in sport.

Lakshya Sen dominates

For Lakshya Sen, the year started with the inaugural BWF Super 500 title at the Indian Open in January. He followed that up by finishing second in the All-England Open. This made him the first male Indian player to play in a Super Series Premier final since Pullela Gopichand won the title in 2001.

In the Thomas Cup final, playing the opener, Lakshya Sen defeated top-ranked Anthony Ginting to give India a 1-0 lead. India continued their momentum and won the prestigious team title 3-0.

Lakshya Sen followed that with his first Commonwealth Games gold medal in Birmingham. He beat Malaysian representative Tze Young NG 19-21, 21-9, 21-16 to win the men’s singles gold. With the victory, he joined an elite list of Commonwealth Games gold medalists in Indian men’s singles, a club that included Prakash Padukone (1978), Syed Modi (1982) and Parupalli Kashyap (2014).

Article Tags: Lakshya Sen, Sportsman of the Year 2023