New Delhi [India], November 27 (ANI): At the Turf 2022 and India Sports Awards of FICCI, former Ranji cricketer Sarkar Talwar was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement of the Year award on Saturday. Talwar, the Director-Sports, Manav Rachna Education Institutions, is also the recipient of the Dronacharya Lifetime Award, given by the President of India. Apart from Talwar, Avani Lekhara, who won two medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, was recognized as the Para Sports Person of the Year, while Shrey Kadyan was recognized as the Special Sportsperson of the Year.

For their remarkable work over the past decade, Odisha was recognized as the best state for promoting sports. The All India Chess Federation won the National Sports Federation of the Year Award for hosting another successful edition of the Chess Olympiad this year.

The latest edition of FICCI Turf 2022 was a star-studded affair, witnessing participation by renowned sportspersons, including Manika Batra, Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awardee, Anju Bobby George, Padma Shri, Khel Ratna, and Arjuna Awardee, former Indian Cricketer and Lok Sabha MP Gautam Gambhir and Mithali Raj, Former Captain, Indian Women's National Cricket Team.

In addition, seven focused plenary sessions throughout the day saw eminent sports industry personalities engage in wide-ranging discussions over various aspects concerning the sports sector.

In Session 1 of the day on Rising Culture of Sports League saw Sanjog Gupta, Chairperson, SportsYouth Affairs Committee, FICCI and Head - Sports, Disney Star, Yannick Colaco, Co-Founder, FanCode, Parvin Dabas, Co-Founder, Pro Panja League, Tenzing Niyogi, CEO, Ultimate Kho Kho, and Ryo Takahashi, Major League Baseball India, discussing the importance of fan engagement in the continuous growth of league-styled sports in India.

Session 2 on How Fantasy Sports Enhances Sports Experience saw Joy Bhattacharjya, Director General, Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, and Amit Purohit, CEO and Founder of Fantasy Akhada addressing how leagues can use the FS platforms for better fan engagement, and the need to create platforms of knowledge to improve the experience for FS users.

Session 3 on Technology Revolutionizing Sports Industry saw Subhayu Roy, Head-Brand Partnerships, Sportskeeda, Dipankar Mukherjee, VP-Innovation, Nihilent, and Mukul Choudhari, CEO, Jamshedpur FC and Chief of Sports Excellence Centres, Tata Steel discussing how Technology and innovation have changed the way people both participate in and consume sports.

In Session 4, former India Men's Cricket Team Captain Gautam Gambhir engaged in a fireside chat where he spoke on the current state of sports in the country, and the need to engage more Indians in the development of cricket in India.

Session 5 on India's Special Sports Strategy saw Shri Kunal, Joint Secretary (Sports - Development), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, GoI giving a motivating speech after which, Sunayana Arora Singh, CEO, Organ India, Mukta Narain Thind, National Director - Organizational Development at Special Olympics Bharat, Ajay Kumar Reddy, Captain of the Indian Blind Men's Cricket Team, and Mr Sumit Jain, President of the Indian Deaf Cricket Association engaged in an interactive session on the need to support special athletes in India.

Session 6 on the Role of Sports ScienceNutrition for Athlete Development saw Kunal, Joint Secretary (Sports - Development), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, GoI, Tajinder Kaur, Sports and Clinical Nutritionist, Olympic Gold Quest, Mr Siddharth Batra, Senior Director-CommercialMarketing, South Asia at Glanbia Performance Nutrition, Swati Bathwal, Sports Nutritionist, and GL Khanna, Pro Vice Chancellor, MRIIRS engaging in a discussion of the rising application of advanced science and nutrition in sports that are allowing athletes to perform optimally.

The final session of the day saw former Captain of the Indian Women's National Cricket Team, Mithali Raj engaging in a discussion on Empowered Women Leading the Way in Sport, along with Kirthi Muralikrishnan, CEO, Bengaluru Bulls, Tuhin Mishra, MDCo-Founder, Baseline Ventures, and Shruti Sharma, Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation, UNESCO. (ANI)