Sunil Chhetri is TOISA Footballer of the Year

NEW DELHI: Top India footballer Sunil Chhetri was given the TOISA Footballer of the Year Award at the inaugural Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) held at Gurgaon on Thursday.
Competing for the award were Bembem Devi, Syed Nabi Rahim, Kamala Devi, Bala Devi and Subrata Paul apart from Chhetri who eventually clinched it at the gala event attended by famous national and international sports personalities.
Chettri has been the torchbearer of Indian football after the retirment of Baichung Bhutia. Chettri was touted as the next big thing in Indian football since making his debut in 2005 and he has lived up to the billing.Statistically speaking, Chettri has overtaken Bhutia as the leading goal scorer for India.
He came to prominence when during the final of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, he scored a hat-trick against Tajikistan to help India win the title and thus qualify for the 2011 Asia Cup for the first time in over two decades.
As a recognition of his exploits, Chettri drew interest from foreign clubs and went on to represent the clubs of the likes of Kansas City Wizards and Sporting Lisbon 'B'.