Nagpur: A total of five Nagpur sportspersons and a coach are set to get Maharashtra’s highest sports honour the Shiv Chhatrapati awards. The selection committee appointed by the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of Maharashtra proposed the names of Shiv Chhatrapati awardees for the last three years.
For their extraordinary performance during the 2021-22 session, star Nagpur shuttler Malvika Bansod, skater Kasturi Tamhankar and Vidarbha’s third Grandmaster (GM) in chess Sankalp Gupta have been named in the list.
Similarly, international swimmer Rutuja Talegaonkar and skater Aditi Dhande have been shortlisted for their achievement in the 2020-21 session. While no player from Nagpur was named in the list of awardees for the 2019-20 year, softball coach Darshana Pandit was proposed to get the Jijamata award.
The announcement of the Shiv Chhatrapati State Sports Award to Sankalp Gupta in the game of chess has brought cheers to Nagpur. Sankalp Gupta became the 71st Grandmaster at the age of 18. Sankalp Gupta started his journey playing chess with his mother.
From the age of four, he started winning prizes in chess. At the same age of 18, he has achieved the title of Grandmaster in the 2021 International Chess Tournament in Serbia, achieving an yellow rating of 2, 504 fulfilling 3 GM norms.
