Olympic bronze medallist Saina
Nehwal was declared Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year while her mentor and India coach Pulella Gopichand was given the Coach
of the Year award for nurturing new crop of talented young shuttlers.
The event was organised by the
sports magazine to honour good performances of the year 2012.
Saina had also bagged this award
in the inaugural edition in 2009.
The
14 categories in which the awards were presented include Young Player of the Year award, won by U-19 world cup winning captain
Unmukt Chand, while Athlete of the
Year was presented to young India cricketer Virat Kohli.
Rahul
Dravid and VVS Laxman, the Indian batting stalwarts who retired from
international cricket last year, were given the Lifetime Achievement Award for
their contribution to the sport.
Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who won
became the first Indian to win back-to-back individual Olympic medals, was
adjudged the ‘ Gamechanger of the Year’ for bagging a silver medal at London
Games.
Team
of the Year award was given to India U-19 Cricket Team for winning country’s
third ICC Under-19 World Cup in Australia.
Paralympic
high jumper H N Girisha’s silver medal winning effort at Paralympic last year
was awarded ‘Sporting moment of the Year’
The
list also included Asian champion Sawarn Singh Virk (Rowing) and race walker KT
Irfan as ‘Surprise Package of the Year’
The
other awardees include footballer Uttam Rai (Sportskid of the Year), Service
Sports Control Board (Administrator of the Year) and Services (Domestic
Performance of the Year).
This is the fourth year of the
India awards, which are inspired by the world’s most prestigious sports awards,
the Sportsman of the Year, established by Sports Illustrated in 1954.
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