Cricket dominated the Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) Pulsar Player of the Year Awards nominations unveiled on Thursday.
Among 20 nominations for four categories, cricket has six nominations – three for youth player of the year, two for coach of the year and one for female player of the year. Unfortunately, no cricketer was nominated for the Male Player of the Year.
In the Popular Player of the Year category announced earlier, national captain Binod Das is one of seven nominees. Binod will only lift the award if there is highest number of SMS votes for him from the public.
A player selection committee, that announced the nominees of the four categories, will choose the winners of the awards on September 10 when the winners will be awarded in a grand ceremony. The award is the most prestigious sports awards in the country. This year will see the seventh edition of the awards.
The selection committee comprises of Mahesh Acharya (co-ordinator/The Himalayan Times), Binod Pandey (Nagarik daily), Prajeet Shakya (Gorkhapatra daily), Himesh Bajracharya (Kantipur daily) and Ujjwal Acharya (Republica daily).
NSJF PULSAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR (FEMALE) 2065 NOMINEE
REKHA RAWAL was the top wicket taker for Nepal Under-19 team when it won the ACC U-19 Women Championship in Thailand. She took 12 wickets from 33 overs with an average of 5.75 including three wickets against Thailand in semifinal and two against Malaysia in the final. Rekha also continued her form in the Fifth National Games helping Baitadi finish champions and took five wickets during first Wai Wai National Women Tournament in which Baitadi finished runners-up.
NSJF PULSAR COACH OF THE YEAR 2065 NOMINEES
JAMIL ANSARI coached the Nepali Under-19 women team to the championship of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) U-19 Women Championship in Thailand. It was Nepali women cricketers’ first international trophy. Nepal remained unbeaten in its way to the championship. Under his guidance, Region No 5 Nepalgunj won the Wai Wai National Women Championship and got third position in the Fifth National Games.
ROY LUKE DIAS has not missed the nomination for the award since its introduction in 2062 winning the award that very year. In 2065, Dias guided Nepal to the championship of the ACC U-17 Elite Cup held in Nepal making Nepal the only ACC member nation to win all levels of age-group events. He also coached the senior team to the third position in World Cricket League Divison 5 in Jersey and fourth position in the ACC Trophy in Malaysia.
NSJF PULSAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR (YOUTH) 2065 NOMINEES
MAYA RAWAT was a key player during Nepal’s victory in the ACC U-19 Women’s Championship. She scored 117 runs – highest for Nepal and fourth highest in the event at an average of 29.25. She was also a key member of Region No 6 Baitadi team which reached the final of the Wai Wai National Championship and won gold in the Fifth National Games.
KESHARI CHAUDHARY remained in headlines with her performance in athletics and cricket. She took 10 wickets during Nepal’s victory in ACC U-19 Women’s Championship and helped Nepalgunj win the Wai Wai National Championship. During Fifth National Games, he won five events – high jump, long jump, triple jump, 4x100m and 4x400m. She also made national record in triple jump crossing 11.30m. She also won three golds in Gorkha Runners Club’s National Open Athletics.
PRITHU BASKOTA led Nepal U-17 team to the victory in the ACC U-17 Elite Cup in Kathmandu. He scored 81 runs at an average of 27 and took 7 wickets at an average of 7.85 as Nepal remained unbeaten in the event to win all age-group level events of ACC. He also took 7 wickets to help Region No 3 Kathmandu win Twenty20 in Birgunj and was adjudged best bowler of Boost U-17 National. He took 18 wickets as Kathmandu made a clean-sweep in all national events.
PHOTO BY NEPALSPORTSPHOTO.COM