NEW DELHI: Akash Kumar and Lovlina Borgohain have been named Boxers of the Year at the Times of India Sports Awards for their achievements in 2021. The glittering TOISA 2021 award ceremony was held in the capital on Friday and was graced with the presence of top sporting personalities of the country.

The 21-year-old Haryana boxer Akash had a stellar 2021 where he bagged a World Championship bronze medal. He also clinched a gold in the National Championships.

Lovlina, on the other hand, took India's women's boxing to the next level, securing a memorable bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. The 25-year-old boxer from Assam grabbed a bronze at the Asian Championship as well and was also honoured with the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award by the Government of India in 2021.

Youth champion Akash is a three-time Khelo India Games champion.
Lovlina has twice won bronze medals at the World Championships in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Apart from her 2021 Asian Championship bronze, she also finished third in the 2017 edition of the Asiad in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The evaluation period for TOISA 2021 was from January 1 to December 31, 2021.

All achievements during this time period were considered by the jury.

This time the esteemed TOISA jury included cricket all-rounder and member of the 1983 World Cup winning team Madan Lal, Olympic medal winning shooter Gagan Narang, former hockey captain and Haryana sports minister Sandeep Singh, veteran Indian athlete Anju Bobby George who was the first Indian athlete to win an athletics World Championships medal, Paralympic Games silver medallist Deepa Malik and Olympic medal winning boxer Vijender Singh.

Amit Panghal, Sanjeet Kumar, Shiva Thapa and Vikas Krishan were the other nominees alongside Akash in the men's Boxer of the Year category.

In the women's category, veteran MC Marykom and Pooja Rani were the other two nominees.