Praggnanandhaa named Sportsman of the Year (Non-Olympic Sports) at Sportstar Aces Awards 2026
R. Praggnanandhaa was named Sportsman of the Year (Non-Olympic Sports) at the Sportstar Aces Awards 2026, held in Mumbai on Friday, in recognition of a dominating season that elevated Indian chess on the global stage.
Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa will also be India’s only representative in the 2026 Candidates in the open section. The 20-year-old secured his Candidates spot by winning the FIDE Circuit 2025.
Praggnanandhaa began the year by winning at the Tata Steel Masters and followed it up with title wins at the Superbet Chess Classic Romania, UzChess Cup Masters, and London Chess Classic Open.
He also finished second in the Stepan Avagyan Memorial and Sinquefield Cup. On the back of these tournament wins, Praggnanandhaa climbed to No.4 in world rankings in July, becoming the highest-rated Indian player. In September, he surged to a career-high 2785 Elo rating points.
The 2026 Sportstar Aces Awards are presented by Amul, co-presented by Casagrand in association with SRM Institute of Science and Technology. SBI, Christ University, Next IAS, Bharat Petroleum, LIC, Sports Authority of Telangana, NTPC, Indian Softball Cricket Foundation, Jaquar And Company Private Limited are associate partners. Reva University is the education partner. Blue Star is the cooling partner while Times Now is the telecast partner.
Published on Mar 16, 2026