Desk : India's number-1 and world number 27 para table tennis player Noorjahan Noorali Zamani has been honored with the prestigious 'Sardar Patel Sports Award' of the Gujarat government. Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Shanghvi presented him the prestigious award during a special ceremony held in Gandhinagar. Instituted by the Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department, this award is counted among the highest sports honors of the state, which is given to players who show exceptional performance and perseverance in the field of sports.

Despite suffering from polio at the age of just five, Noorjahan never gave up. He took a break of more than a decade after participating in Para table tennis between 2007 and 2010, but his strong comeback in the year 2022 surprised everyone. After his comeback, he successfully defended his title in the UTT Para Senior National Championship 2025-26 held in Indore and secured the top position at the national level.

Noorjahan, a resident of Ahmedabad, is working as a junior officer in Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL). He has been receiving valuable support such as high performance support, coaching and tournament planning for a long time under Adani Sportsline's flagship 'Garv Hai' initiative. Expressing happiness over this honour, Noorjahan said that this award inspires her to achieve higher goals. Now their sights are set on qualifying for the 2026 Asian Para Games to be held in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan from October 18 to 24.