Hyderabad: Star Indian boxer Mary Kom has been named the Best Asian Female Athlete by the Asian Sportswriters Union in their awards for Asia ceremony which was held at Malaysia. South Korean soccer player Heung-Min Son, meanwhile, bagged the top honours in the male category.
The Japanese women's football team and the Qatar men's football team were, on the other hand, named the best teams in Asia.
AIPS Asia that represents Asian sportswriters since 1978 organised the award ceremony for the first time this year to honour Asian athletes who have excelled at the highest level.
Mary Kom, however, was not present at the ceremony and YAB Tuan Haji Amirudin Shari, the chief minister of Selangor, gave away her trophy to eminent sports journalist Subodh Malla Barua, who accepted the trophy on Mary Kom's behalf.
Mary Kom is the only woman to have won a medal in seven World Championships and the 36-year-old boxer also recently won a gold medal in the 23rd President's Cup in the 51kg bout final in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia.
Mary Kom will be looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the World Championships in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
