Double award for Sunil Chhetri; Karanjit adjudged best keeper for the third time

India and Bengaluru FC captain Sunil Chhetri won two accolades at the I-League awards, announced by the AIFF after its executive committee meeting on Wednesday.

Sunil was adjudged Best Player and Best Forward for finishing as the joint highest I-League scorer with 14 goals and guiding debutants Bengaluru to the title.

Salgaocar goalkeeper and India international Karanjit Singh won the Best Goalkeeper award for keeping the maximum clean sheets (9). This is the third time he has won the award in four years.

“This award will motivate me further to perform even better next season. I would like to dedicate it to my maternal grandfather, who passed away last year,” Karanjit told Sportskeeda.

Bengaluru’s Englishman John Johnson was adjudged Best Defender while Ivorian Douhou Pierre won the Best Midfielder award. Douhou spent last season with Pune FC but now has joined Salgaocar. The voting for all categories were done by the captains and coaches of I-Legaue clubs.

Pratap Singh from Uttarakhand was adjudged I-League’s best referee while Sapan Kennedy from Manipur won the best assistant referee accolade.