TOISA: Sindhu accoladed with top honour

Indian Badminton prodigy and Rio Olympics Silver medalist P. V Sindhu is honoured with two awards at Mahindra Scorpio Times Of India Sports Awards, in March 2017, that includes top prize of Sportsperson of the year. It is her third award at TOISA since 2015.

Sindhu also won the Jury's Choice for Badminton Player of the Year following a stunning 2016 in which she won the biggest prize in the history of Indian badminton - an Olympic silver, to go past Saina Nehwal' s bronze five years ago in London - and claimed her first China Open Super Series and the Malaysia Masters, apart from finishing second at the Hong Kong Super Series.

The world's first ever perfect ten gymnast, Nadia Comaneci , was present as the mentor. The most courageous and India’s successful paralympics valiant players, javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia, who broke his own record while claiming his second medal; Deepa Malik , who won silver in the shot put F-53 event to become the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic medal; and high jumpers Mariyappan Thangavelu, who created history by winning gold, and Varun Bhati who claimed bronze; proudly honoured.

TOISA lifetime achievement award was received by Indian hockey great Ajit Pal Singh. The only Indian captain for being lifted World Cups. People's choice Emerging Player of the Year was received by India's youngest T20I debutant Rishabh Pant while the Jury's choice award in the same category was won by teenage golfer Aditi Ashok.

This year’s TOISA introduced three new categories; Team of the Year, Coach/Mentor of the Year, and State of the Year. The India team which won the 2016 Junior Hockey World Cup, Dronacharya Award winners Pullela Gopichand and Bisheshwar Nandi, and Haryana received the awards respectively. Haryana received State of the Year award for its role in producing and supporting leading sportspersons to shine at the national and international level.

In an Olympic year, performances at the 2016 Rio Games naturally emerged as the biggest Jury's Choice picks. Dipa Karmakar was declared winner of the TOISA Gymnast of the Year Award and Inspiration of the Year; Sakshi Malik, who became the first woman wrestler from India to bag an Olympic medal, was named Wrestler of the Year Award; Abhinav Bindra bagged the Shooter of the Year Award following his final performance on the international stage, this was his third Olympic final where he came within 0.1 of winning a second medal at the pinnacle of world sport; long-distance runner Lalita Babar won Athlete of the Year Award after becoming the first Indian to qualify for the final of an athletics track event at the

Olympics since PT Usha in 1984; Atanu Das was adjudged Archer of the Year; and Rio inspiration Dattu Baban Bhokanal named Rower of the Year.

The list of other deserving recipients are.,

Sportsperson of the Year : PV Sindhu

Athletics : Lalita Babar

Archery : Atanu Das

Badminton : PV Sindhu

Billiards : Pankaj Advani

Boxing : Vikas Krishan

Chess : Harika Dronavalli

Cricket : Ravichandran Ashwin

Football : Jeje Lalpekhlua

Gymnastics : Dipa Karmakar

Golf : Anirban Lahiri

Hockey : Rupinder Pal Singh

Kabbadi : Ajay Thakur

Rowing : Dattu Baban Bhokanal

Squash : Dipika Pallikal Karthik

Shooting : Abhinav Bindra

Tennis : Sania Mirza

Wrestling : Sakshi Malik