Ten decorated sportspersons and four journalists helped select the contenders, nominees and the final winners of the second ESPN India Awards. Meet the jury.
Chetan Baboor (table tennis): Four-time national champion and twice a gold medallist at the Commonwealth Championships, Baboor owned Indian table tennis in the generation between Kamlesh Mehta and Achanta Sharath Kamal. He played successfully in the Swedish league in the 1990s before retiring from the sport to pursue a corporate career in the US.
Ashish Ballal (hockey): Flamboyant goalkeeper and a pivotal member of the 1998 Asian Games gold-medal winning hockey team. Ballal played 275 internationals for India and kept goal at the Olympics, the World Cup and Champions Trophy through the 1990s. Fearless in goal and outspoken off the field, he was part of the team that made successive Asian Games finals in the 1990s.before winning gold after 32 years in Seoul. After retirement, he now runs a coaching academy in Bangalore.
Abhinav Bindra (shooting) - India's first individual Olympic gold medallist, Bindra's competitive career spanned more than 15 years. Since retiring in 2016, he has worked with government and non-government bodies in review and policy programmes and established cutting-edge sports science centres in two cities.
Rahul Bose (rugby) - Actor, social activist, rugby player and boxer, Rahul Bose could equally describe himself as a champion for Indian sport. Bose may be known for his work in the film industry, but was also one of the pioneering first XV in India rugby, which played its first international in 1998. He is involved with several charitable institutions and also set up The Foundation, an NGO for education and assistance of children in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands following the 2004 tsunami.
Manisha Malhotra (tennis) - National champion, a member of India's Fed Cup team and an Asian Games silver medallist, Malhotra has followed up her successful playing career by taking an active part in supporting India's athletes. She was in charge of the Mittal Champions' Trust, one of the first private non-profit organisations set up to assist elite Indian athletes.
Nisha Millet (swimming) - The first Indian woman to go under a minute in the 100m freestyle, Millet was to dominate swimming in India through the 1990s. Her records in the 200m and 400m freestyle stayed for 15 years, and she represented India at the Asian Games, World Championships and Sydney Olympics. Since retiring in 2004, she has coached the next generation of young swimmers at her academy.
Ashwini Nachappa (athletics) - Sprinter, administrator, educationist, actor Ashwini Nachappa has been one of the most impactful voices in Indian athletics. Runner and long jumper in the 1980s, she represented India at the Asian Games and the World Championships, a part of the iconic Indian women's 4×400m relay team. Nachappa is one of the rare women to make a place for herself in athletic administration and has also set up an athletics school in her home district of Coorg.
Aparna Popat (badminton) - A forerunner to the most successful generation of Indian women badminton players, Popat was a silver medallist at the World Junior Championships and nine-time national champion, who remained undefeated in the event until her retirement in 2006. Ranked world No. 16 at her peak, she won a silver in the women's singles at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and bronze medals in Manchester and Melbourne. She is a well-recognised badminton commentator now.
Renedy Singh (football) - Midfielder for India in the first decade of the 21st century, Renedy played 59 internationals in a career that lasted nearly two decades. His club career included long stints at the two Kolkata clubs as well as stints in the pioneering years of both JCT and Shillong Lajong. Renedy's is today one of the most respected voices in Indian football as commentator and analyst on television.
Devarajan Venkatesan (boxing) - Winner of the bronze at the 1994 Boxing World Cup in Bangkok, Devarajan was India's first World Cup boxing medallist outside the country. A multiple-time national champion, he is currently a coach and one of the best boxing analysts in India.
Rohit Brijnath - A sports writer with 'The Straits Times' in Singapore and co-author of Abhinav Bindra's autobiography 'A Shot at History', Brijnath's is the byline Indian sports fans look for when following a story.
Jayaditya Gupta - Executive editor, ESPN India and ESPNcricinfo.
Sharda Ugra - Senior editor, ESPN India and ESPNcricinfo.
Debayan Sen - Senior assistant editor, ESPN India.