Star 'Parivaar'

Country’s top sportspersons descended on the lawns of a plush city hotel on Monday for the Sahara Sports Awards. Name them and they were all there. 

Sachin Tendulkar, Abhinav Bindra, Viswanathan Anand, Baichung Bhutia, Vijender Singh from the contemporary lot while Prakash Padukone, Sunil Gavaskar, Dhanraj Pillay, Michael Ferreira added the glitter further.

The event kicked off as a panel, consisting of former greats, walked the ramp to introduce themselves. On a quiet, pleasant evening, Christmas came early for Abhinav Bindra and Saina Nehwal.

Bindra beat Viswanathan Anand and Jeev Milkha Singh to get his hands on the Sportsman of the Year award. That was an add-on to the award for giving the Most Memorable Moment of the year in 2008.

It was a sweet double for Saina too, who won the Young Achiever in female category and the icing on the cake for her was the Sportswoman of the Year award. The Hyderabad girl wasn’t present and the awards were received by Pullela Gopichand, who was the recipient of coach of the Year award.

The event was garnished with live performances from Bollywood damsels Deepika Padukone and Neha Dhupia who have their connect to sports. But it was Vijender Singh who stole the show with his act.

Though he wasn’t at his groovy best, he got original Little Master, Sunil Gavaskar, to shake a leg with him. He then went to Tendulkar, who was sitting close by. Tendulkar was caught unawares but did not oblige.

Tendulkar’s teammates Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh got the crowd on their feet as they displayed their dancing skills with a lot of enthusiasm. Before Vijender wore his dancing shoes, he was honoured for outstanding performance in boxing by Sachin.

Golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar and wrestler Sushil Kumar got their hands on the same award in their respective disciplines. Archer Jayanta Talukdar was feted for his achievements last year.

Mithali Raj beat her teammates Gouhar Sultana, Rumeli Dhar and Priyanka Roy to win best cricketer in female category. Gautam Gambhir received the award in the male category from a well-gelled and dapper looking Baichung Bhutia.

Moscow Olympics gold medallist hockey player Sylvanus Dung Dung was awarded Rs 5 lakh and the Unsung Hero award. Prakash Padukone got the Legend Honour for his lifetime achievements in badminton. Finally, the Indian cricket team found something to cheer about as they won best team of the year award.

MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan, Ashish Nehra, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, along with Mumbai teammates took the stage to receive the award.
Dhoni used the occasion to congratulate all the sports achievers from all fields and was happy to see former and contemporary champions on one stage. “It is an honour to represent our country. All we do is for our country. We give our best  and leave the rest to the God,” said the skipper.

The show ended as choreographer Shiamak Davar got the panelists and Sahara chairman Subrata Roy to shake legs along with him.