Bindra, Mary Kom win Sahara Indian awards

The Indian cricket team led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the team of the year award and former batminton star Prakash Padukone won the ‘Legend Honour’ at the glittering function held here this evening.

Former All England Badminton Champion P Gopichand was elected as the Coach of the Year for guiding Saina into the quarter final of the Olympics and helping her in the Indonesian Super series title.

The unsung hero award was bagged by hockey international S Dung Dung.

Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who received the Sahara India team of the year award along with Virendra Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambir, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, thanked the organisers for bringing sportsmen of various fields on one platform.

“It wouldn’t have been impossible for us to meet and discuss various sports being played in the country,” Dhoni told the gathering. “Every sportsman play for the glory of the country so we do,” Dhoni said.

Bindra, Prakash Padukone and Dung Dung got a standing ovation while receiving the award.

List of awardees: Best young male achievers of the year: Yuki Bhambri (tennis); Most memorable movement: Abhinav Bindra winning gold medal in the Beijing Olympics; Best male cricketer of the year: Gautam Gambhir; Best female cricketer of the year: Mithali Raj:  Outstanding performance in sports other than cricket: Vijender Singh (boxing), Sushil Kumar (wrestling), Gaganjeet Bhullar (golf) and Jayanta Talukdar (archery).