The Hindu : Sport : Two awards each for Saina, Abhinav

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Wednesday, Nov 11, 2009
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Two awards each for Saina, Abhinav

Special Correspondent

— PHOTO: AFP

MOMENT TO CHERISH: Actress Riya Sen gives away the Sportsman of the Year award and the Most Memorable Moment award to Abhivan Bindra, as Yuvraj Singh applauds.

MUMBAI: Saina Nehwal and Abhinav Bindra walked away with two awards each at the Sahara Indian Sports Awards (SISA) ceremony on Monday night, an initiative by Sahara India to honour the nation’s highest achievers in cricket and Olympic sports.

Saina was chosen for awards in India’s Best Young Achiever (female) and Sportswoman of the Year categories and Bindra was named Sportsman of the Year for the Beijing Olympics shooting gold medal, a feat which also earned him No. 1 position among nominees in Most Memorable Moments category.

Special aawards

Special awards were given to Prakash Padukone, named Greatest Indian Sportsperson and S. Dung Dung, hockey Olympian identified for honour in the Indian Sports’ Unsung Heroes category.

The winners were named by a jury headed by cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar, other members were sporting icons Michael Ferreira (billiards), Kamlesh Mehta (table tennis), Pravin Thipsay (chess), P. Gopi Chand (badminton), Vikramjit Singh (golf), Ashwini Nachappa and Anju George (athletics), Dhanraj Pillay (hockey), I.M. Vijayan (football), Dilip Vengsarkar (cricket), Meherwan Daruwala (squash) and Nandan Bal (tennis).

The Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI) was partner in the nomination process for SISA, after which the legends jury took over.

Gavaskar explained that the jury chose Padukone for the highest honour in the Greatest Indian Sportsperson category due to his performances on court and contribution after retirement. Dung Dung, a member on the Moscow Olympics 1980 men’s hockey gold medal squad, was handed a Rs. 5 lakh cheque in appreciation of achievement amidst a life of constant struggle to make financial ends meet after retirement.

World champion M.C. Mary Kom was named for a special award in women’s boxing. Gopi Chand was named coach of the year for his role in Saina Nehwal’s rise to world badminton levels. Percept managed the event.

List of awards:

Best Young Achiever (female): Saina Nehwal (badminton); Best Young Achiever (male): Yuki Bhambri (tennis); Coach of the Year: Pullela Gopichand (badminton); Outstanding performance in other sports: Vijender Singh; (boxing); Best cricketer (female): Mithali Raj; Best cricketer (male): Gautam Gambhir; Most memorable moments in Indian sport: Abhinav Bindra (shooting); Sportswoman of the Year: Saina Nehwal (badminton); Sportsman of the Year: Abhinav Bindra (shooting); Special award for women’s boxing: M.C. Mary Kom; Best team of the Year: Indian cricket team; Greatest Indian sportsperson: Prakash Padukone (badminton); Unsung hero award: S. Dung Dung (hockey).

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