NEW DELHI (TIP): Ace marksman Jitu Rai was on May 7 declared the Sportsperson of the Year’ at the Times of India Sports Awards in a glittering ceremony that was graced by the legendary Carl Lewis.

‘Flying Sikh‘ Milkha Singh received the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ from the ‘Olympian of the century’ and Times Group MD Vineet Jain in a ceremony that was attended by the who and who of India’s sporting fraternity.

Besides Lewis and Milkha, prominent figures from the sporting world included former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, Olympic bronze medallists boxer MC Mary Kom, shuttler Saina Nehwal and CWG gold medallist squash player Dipika Pallikal.

The jury panel comprised of former Davis Cupper Ramesh Krishnan, Olympic gold medallist hockey player Zafar Iqbal, World championship bronze medallist long jumper Anju Bobby George and Ganguly.

While Jitu, who won an unprecedented seven medals in the last one year, was the jury’s choice, champion cueist Pankaj advani bagged the Popular Choice Award.

Young shooter Malaika Goel won the Emerging Players’ Jury Award along with five others while weightlifter Sanjita Chanu won the Popular Choice Award. Test captain Virat kohli got the Popular Choice Award while Harmanpreet Kaur won the Cricketer of the Year Award.

Saina Nehwal was named the ‘Youth Icon of the Year’.

List only Jury awards:

Sportsperson of the Year: Jitu Rai; Youth Icon: Saina Nehwal; Cricket: Harmanpreet Kaur (women); Football Sunil Chhetri; Badminton: PV Sindhu; Billiards: Pankaj Advani; TT: Achanta Sharath Kamal; Shooting: Jitu Rai; Athletics: Vikas Gowda, Wrestling: Yogeshwar Dutt; Lifetime Achievement Award: Milkha Singh; Squash: Dipika Pallikal; Golf: Anirban Lahiri; Chess: Viswanathan Anand; Hockey: Rani Rampal (women) and PR Sreejesh (men); Boxing: L Sarita Devi and MC Mary Kom; Tennis: Sania Mirza, Weightlifting: Satish Sivalingam, Emerging Player Awards: Malaika Goel, Khushbir Kaur, Amit Kumar Dahiya, A Chikkarangappa, Sanjita Chanu and Vinesh Phogat.