Blind football pair claim awards

England blind football duo Ajmal Ahmed and Tony Larkin were among the award winners at the npower Disability Sport Awards Evening in Birmingham. Ahmed won the Male Sports Personality award with Larkin taking the Coach of the Year honour.

Rising tennis star Jordanne Whiley won the Young Female Achiever award with the male award going to wheelchair athlete Mickey Bushell. The Female Sports Personality award was won by crossbow shooter Iris Bingham.

Ahmed played for England in last year's World Blind Championships in Argentina, where they finished sixth, but the defender had some consolation by winning Player of the Tournament. The 26-year-old Liverpool fan, who beat team-mate Andrew Briant and athlete Mickey Bushell to the award, is hoping to be part of Great Britain's team for the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.

"This is a huge honour for me and I'm lost for words, which doesn't happen a lot," he admitted. "To win an award for something I love doing is very special and hopefully this will help to raise the profile of blind football across Great Britain."

Larkin's side will compete under the Great Britain banner in the European Championships in Athens in September, knowing that a top-two finish will secure a place in Beijing. "We are still keen to get other youngsters involved in the training," he said. "The players have their own programmes and also train monthly together and we are hoping to play some games before we go to Athens. Other countries have got a better set-up than us but we are improving fast and are hoping to lift the awareness of the sport and get more kids playing."

A total of 10 awards were presented at the ceremony at Villa Park with guests including former Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis, snooker chief Sir Rodney Walker and Paralympians Ade Adepitan, Claire Cashmore and Lee Pearson.

Award winners:

EFDS Young Female Achiever: Jordanne Whiley (wheelchair tennis)

EFDS Young Male Achiever: Mickey Bushell (athletics)

Coach of the Year: Tony Larkin (blind football)

Sports match Team of the Year: Special Olympics West Midlands women's football

School of the Year: Manor Park Special School

Sport England Volunteer of the Year: The Goodall family (Warwickshire Disabled Cricket Association)

Sports Club of the Year: Rose Hill Sports Club

npower Male Sports Personality: Ajmal Ahmed

npower Female Sports Personality: Iris Bingham

Ambassador of Disability Sports: Murray Horton