Assam: OIL-ASJA Sports Honours Lovlina with Best Sportsperson of the Year (Boxing) Award

The Assam Sports Journalists’ Association (ASJA) today held its annual OIL-ASJA Sports Awards 2023 ceremony in Guwahati, recognizing exceptional talents and achievements in the sporting world over the past year.

Olympic medalist and ace boxer Lovlina Borgohain was conferred the Best Sportsperson of the Year (Boxing) award.

Accepting the award, Lovlina thanked the sports journalists for motivating her to do well.

She said, “I’m extremely happy and glad to have received the award today. The role played by the sports journalists is very important. It’s because of you that people know me today and because of so many positive news about sports. Parents these days want their kids to play.”

Besides Lovlina, many other athletes and sportspersons from Assam in different areas were conferred various awards.

The other award recipients are:

1.Bornil Akash Changmai was conferred the Best Junior Sportsperson of the Year (Badminton) award.
2.Bedabrat Bharali was conferred the Best Junior Sportsperson of the Year (Weightlifting) award.
3.Assam Senior Cricket Team received the Best Team of the Year award for their outstanding performance in the Syed Mustak Ali Trophy T20 Tournament.
4.Pabitra Gogoi has received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedicated service to sports and sports journalism.
4.Special Achievement awards were conferred on Uma Chetry (Cricket), Apurna Narzary (Football) and Mehdi Hassan (Athletics).

5.Chess player Mayank Chakraborty and Table Tennis Divija Paul were presented the Promising Sportspersons awards.
6.Special Achievement awards were conferred upon:
A).Uma Chetry for her excellence in Cricket
B).Apurna Narzary for her achievements in Football
C).Mehdi Hassan for his performance in Athletics

7.Promising Sportspersons awards were presented to:
A).Mayank Chakraborty, a rising star in Chess
b).Divija Paul, a talented player in Table Tennis

Additionally, the SJFI Medal was given to Premadhar Sarma, a veteran sports journalist and organizer, acknowledging his long-standing dedication and contributions to sports journalism and organization.

All the awards carried cash prizes along with citations, mementos etc.

Speaking at the event, Assam PHED and Tourism Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah, who is also the president of Assam Athletics Association, highlighted the role played the sports journalists in shaping the future of players.

Minister Baruah mentioned about various initiatives of the state government to uplift the sports infrastructure in Assam.

“Initiatives like Khel Maharan has been one of the major initiatives. In a state like Assam, 40 lakh youths have participated in this event,” he said.