JOIN US Golfer Anirban Lahiri and badminton ace Ashwini Ponnappa won the Sportsperson of the Year award in the male and female categories at the the Sports Writers Association of Bangalore’s annual awards function here on Friday.
Lahiri won the Malaysian Open in February this year, apart from clinching the Indian Open and the Macau Open. He finished 49th at the Masters and is currently the No 1 for this season’s Asian Tour.
Ponnappa, meanwhile, won the doubles silver in last year’s Commonwealth Games and triumphed in this year’s edition of the Canada Open with Jwala Gutta. Both the winners could not make it to the function but delivered their acceptance speech through video messages.
The Karnataka senior cricket team won the Team of the Year award for the second consecutive year after successfully defending a rare treble of Vijay Hazare Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup in the 2014-15 season.
Isaiah Arumainayagam, who was part of the Indian football squad that won the gold medal in the 1962 Asian Games, was presented the lifetime achievement award while Formula 3 racer Arjun Maini and paddler Archana Kamath bagged the awards in the junior categories.
V Baskaran, captain of the Indian hockey team that won the gold in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, was the chief guest for the occasion. “Bengaluru is one of the best cities for sports in the world. It has good sports culture with good coverage of local leagues. I was born here and have learnt many things from the city, which has helped me lead a complete life,” said Baskaran.
Winners: Sportsperson of the year (male): Anirban Lahiri (Golf); Sportsperson of the year (female): Ashwini Ponnappa (Badminton); Junior sportsperson of the year (male): Arjun Maini (Motorsport); Junior sportsperson of the year (female): Archana Kamath (Table Tennis); Coach of the year: J Arunkumar and Mansur Ali Khan (Cricket); Team of the year: Karnataka State Cricket Association (Cricket); Featured Association: Karnataka Swimming Association; Lifetime achievement: Isaiah Arumainayagam (Football); Behind the scenes: R Suresh Kumar (Badminton).