Mumbai: Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu was awarded the Sportsperson of the Year award by Sports Illustrated magazine, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu carried her momentum forward, winning the Syed Modi International and India Open titles, earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Pullela Gopichand was conferred with the Coach of the Year award, for mentoring a host of shuttlers like Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth, HS Prannoy, and many others to do well on the international circuit over the last few years.
The likes of Srikanth, Sai Praneeth and Prannoy have shown exceptional form over the last couple of months, with the former winning the Indonesian Open Super Series and the Australian Open Super Series. He also made it to the final of the Singapore Super Series final, where he lost out to Sai Praneeth in the end.
Meanwhile, HS Prannoy, despite not winning any major titles, has shown exceptional form, defeating players like Olympic silver and gold medallists Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long, respectively, in consecutive matches.
Former sprinter Milkha Singh bagged the Living Legend award while the Lifetime Achievement award was won by shooter Abhinav Bindra.
Team India Test opening batsman KL Rahul was given the Gamechanger of the year award, whereas the junior Indian hockey team was given the Team of the Year award.
