Zaman honors sports stars at unforgettable ceremony

Awards were presented in five categories -- Sportsperson of the Year, Soccer Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Sports Personality of the Year and Team of the Year. Three awardees were honored in each category, in no order of merit.

It was an occasion that deserves to be remembered for many years to come -- the Zaman Sports Awards 2009 ceremony at the Zaman headquarters in İstanbul on Monday night.

This was the 20th edition of the annual event, also called the Zaman sports Oscars. It was indeed a spectacular star-studded ceremony that attracted the who’s who of Turkish sports -- club chairmen, coaches, players, athletes, basketball players, politicians, business people, you name it.

The guest of honorat this splendid occasion, as we mentioned in our preview to this ceremony on Monday, was former Galatasaray and Beşiktaş Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu. Lucescu is now training Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, which clinched the UEFA Cup at the FB Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in İstanbul last May.

Special Award for coach Lucescu Legendary Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu (left), coach of Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, which clinched the UEFA Cup at the Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in İstanbul last May, received the Special Award from Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı. İstanbul , Today’s Zaman

Also present were Sports Minister Faruk Nafiz Özak, İstanbul Governor Muammer Güler, İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Kadir Topbaş, former European and world champion wrestler Hamza Yerlikaya, who is now a Sivas deputy, and junior national team trainer Ersun Yanal.

And the long list continues: Former Turkish national team coach Sepp Piontek; Turkish Volleyball Federation President Erol Ünal Karabıyık; Beşiktaş Chairman Yıldırım Demirören; Trabzonspor Chairman Sadri Şener; Trabzonspor coach Şenol Güneş; İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor coach Abdullah Avcı; Kasımpaşa coach Yılmaz Vural; and people from all walks of life.

The actual ceremony was preceded by a sumptuous reception where the celebrities, at times surrounded by hordes of press photographers and reporters, mingled and ate with ordinary people.

Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumamlı delivered a short but very meaningful opening speech. “We [Zaman] are 24 years old, but we have been organizing this sports award ceremony for 20 years,” he said. He also briefly explained how the Zaman daily has progressed over the years to become Turkey’s best-selling newspaper with a circulation of 800,000.

This was the first time ever that Zaman had hosted the ceremony at its headquarters, and Dumanlı said the aim was to “bring the occasion closer to home.”

Awards were presented in five categories -- Sportsperson of the Year, Soccer Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Sports Personality of the Year and Team of the Year. Three awardees were honored in each category, in no order of merit.

And the winners were…

• Sportspeople of the Year: Bahri Tanrıkulu (taekwondo), Nazmi Avluca (wrestling), Alemitu Bekele Degfa (athletics).
• Tanrıkulu won the gold medal in the men’s 87 kilogram division at the 2009 World Taekwondo Championship in Copenhagen on Oct. 17.
• Avluca won the gold medal in the 84 kilogram division at the 2009 FILA World Wrestling Championship in the Danish city of Herning on Sept. 26.
• Degfa clinched the women’s gold medal in the 3,000-meter event at the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Turin, Italy, on March 8 last year.
• Soccer Players of the Year: Fabian Ernst (Beşiktaş), Emre Belözoğlu (Fenerbahçe), Arda Turan (Galatasaray).
• Coaches of the Year: Mustafa Denizli (Beşiktaş), Ertuğrul Sağlam (Bursaspor), Salih Bora (Greco Roman national team).
• Personalities of the Year: Yıldırım Demirören (Beşiktaş chairman), Kadir Topbaş (İstanbul mayor), Erol Ünal Karabıyık (volleyball federation chief).
• Teams of the Year: Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe Acıbadem women’s volleyball team, Galatasaray wheelchair basketball team.

Ernst, upon receiving his award, said soccer is a team sport and so his award is for the “entire Beşiktaş team.”

For his part, Emre stated: “Beşiktaş came here with the league and cup double [it won last season]. Hopefully, Fenerbahçe will win the league and the cup this season and come to awards ceremony next year with both silverwares.”

Beşiktaş boss Demirören said, “No man is an island,” as he held his trophy. “And so I thank the current executive board as well as the former one for their efforts. And to [Fener’s] Emre who is talking about two winning trophies this season, I say sorry,” he added, and the audience burst into thunderous applause and laughter.

But Lucescu got it all wrong. The former Galatasaray coach said, “Galatasaray’s five-point lead over Fenerbahçe in the Turkcell Super League was a good advantage.” The Galatasaray Lions were still playing Eskişehirspor away when Lucescu made this statement. The Lions, as is known, lost 2-1, and their lead has been reduced to a meager two points.

All in all, the Zaman Sports Awards 2009 ceremony was a memorable occasion. The guests enjoyed it, so did the host, and everyone went home happy.

See you next year.

Photos:

Bahri Tanrıkulu (R) received his award from Youth and Sports Director from Yunus Akgül. World wrestling champion Nazmi Avluca (R) got his award from AK Party Sivas Deputy Hamza Yerlikaya. Alemitu Bekele Degfa (R) received her award from Turkish Olympic Committee boss Togay Bayatlı. Beşiktaş Chairman Yıldırım Demirören (R) received his award from Sports Minister Faruk Özak. The “indomitable” Fenerbahçe Acıbadem women’s volleyball side was also named Team of the Year at the ceremony on Monday. The Galatasaray wheelchair basketball team also shared the Team of the Year honors at the Zaman Sports Oscars on Monday night. Beikta German midfielder Fabian Ernst (R) got his award from stanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş. Beikta coach Mustafa Denizli (R) got his award from former Turkey coach Sepp Piontek. Turkish wrestling coach Salih Bora (R) got his award from Trabzonspor Chairman Sadri Şener. Volleyball federation boss Erol Ünal Karabıyık (R) received his award from stanbul Gov. Muammer Güler.