Chawrasia, Deepa honoured in Kolkata
Two-time Indian Open champion golfer S.S.P. Chawrasia and the country's lone woman Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik were conferred the Sportsperson of the Year and Inspiration of the Year awards respectively at the annual function of the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club.
Published : Apr 11, 2017 21:07 IST
Two-time Indian Open champion golfer S.S.P. Chawrasia and the country's lone woman Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik were conferred the Sportsperson of the Year and Inspiration of the Year awards respectively at the annual function of the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club (CSJC), here on Tuesday.
Chawrasia received the award amidst loud applause at the ICCR auditorium here.
“Without journalists nobody will know sportspersons. I hope this award becomes a lucky charm as I get ready for tournaments in Japan, China and England,” said Chawrasia.
Deepa, who claimed a silver medal in shot put on a wheelchair in the Rio Games, could not be present due to family commitments. "This means a lot to me. It is good that performances of athletes in Paralympics is being covered," Deepa said through a video message.
Wriddhiman Saha was honoured with a special award. His wife, Debarati, received it on behalf of the cricketer.
Members of the Bengal Santosh Trophy team, including captain Rana Gharami, Manvir Sigh, scorer of the winning goal in the final against Goa, and coach Mridul Banerjee got special awards for their achievement.
Special awards were also given to Pranab Nandy, coach of the Bengal under-19 team that emerged as the Cooch Behar Trophy champion, and Anindita Chakraborty for helping Bengal become the national table tennis champion.
Former Bengal and East Zone coach and current BCCI match referee Raju Mukherjee, country's second Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua and member of the 1970 Asian Games bronze medal winning football team Shyam Thapa, who is also the head of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) technical committee, were honoured with lifetime achievement awards.
The award winners:
Sportsperson of the year: SSP Chawrasia; Junior sportsperson of the year: Saurav Singh; Inspiration of the year: Deepa Malik.
Athletes of the year: Mohammed Rafique and Jeje Lalpekhlua (football); Abhimanyu Easwaran (cricket); Moumita Dutta (table tennis); Atanu Das (archery); Sathi Dolui (hockey); Chandan Bauri and Rajashree Prasad (athletics, men and women winners respectively); Utsava Palit (badminton); Sitamoni Tudu (basketball); Tithi Dhara (volleyball); Arpita Mukherjee (chess); Moupriya Mitra (aquatics-diving).
Special awards: Wriddhiman Saha (cricket), Mridul Banerjee (football), Anindita Chakraborty (table tennis), Pranab Nandy (cricket), Manvir Singh (football), Rana Gharami (football).
Lifetime achievement awards: Raju Mukherji (cricket), Dibyendu Barua (chess), Shyam Thapa (football).