Nominees for best young player, coach named

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Feb. 7: The Nepal Sports Journalist Forum (NSJF) on Tuesday made public the nominees under the best young player and best coach categories for the NSJF Pulsar Sports Award 2079. The award ceremony is being held on February 11.

According to the NSJF, while five individuals were nominated in each category until the last edition of the award, as many deserving individuals as possible have been nominated from this year.

“Eight individuals each have been nominated in the first phase for the best young player and best coach. Three of the best among the eight individuals from both categories will be selected and made public within some days,” read a statement signed by NSJF’s general secretary Prajwal Oli.

NSJF had already unveiled the nominees for the Best Male and Female players.  Deepak Adhikari (Athletics), Aasif Sheikh (Cricket), Mukesh Pal (Athletics), Rohit Paudel (Cricket), Nasir Yahya Hussain (Swimming), Man Bahadur Shrestha (Volleyball), Subash Tamang (Golf), Rupesh Jaiswal (Chess) were the nominees named for Best Male player award.

In the same manner, Rajpura Pachhai (Athletics), Pushpa Bhandari (Athletics), Punam Shrestha (Judo), Jayarani Tharu (Athletics), Shrebee Maharjan (Triathlon), Duwana Lama (Swimming), Anusha Malla (Basketball) and Amisha Karki (Basketball) are the players nominated in the Best Female player of the year category.

Best young players

The eight youths nominated for ‘best young player’ are Rammaya Budha (athletics), Sushma Tamang (boxing), Sujata Tamang (football), Unesh Budhathoki (football), Bijay Bata (boxing), Dev Khanal (cricket), Dipesh Kandel (cricket) and Sadbhav Acharya (golf).

Rammaya Budha won a silver each in the individual and team event at the 16th Asian Cross Country Championship, a gold and a silver at Golden Athletics Meet and a gold in Devdaha Half Marathon among others.

Sushma Tamang won a silver in the ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships and got qualified for the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. She also won a gold for Bagmati Province at the 9th National Games.

Bijay Bata won a bronze in the ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships and a silver at the 9th National Games. Dev Khanal and Dipesh Kandel have been nominated for their performances in the qualifiers to help the team book its berth at the ICC U19 World Cup 2024.

Sujata Tamang was the best goalkeeper at SAFF U15 Championship and SAFF U17 Championship held in Bangladesh in the same year. Nepal won the U15 championship. 

Unesh Budhathoki was in the Nepal U17 squad which was the runner-up in SAFF U17 Championship. He was the joint highest scorer in the tournament (4 goals).

Sadbhav Acharya won a gold alongside Subash Tamang at Nepal Tourism Cup and Bangladesh Amateur Golf Championship. Acharya also won a gold for Bagmati Province and an individual silver at the 9th National Games.

Best coaches

Eight coaches nominated for the ‘best coach award’ are Chandra Gurung (athletics), Dipak Maharjan (boxing), Bhagwati Rana Magar (football), Ananta Raj Thapa (football), Bharat Shah (volleyball), Ongden Lama (swimming), Jagat Tamata (cricket) and Monty Desai (cricket).

Ananta Raj Thapa coached Nepali women’s team to become the runners-up at SAFF Women’s Championship. 

He was the first coach to lead the women’s team to a win against India for the first time and to draw two more friendly matches against India. Bhagwati Rana Magar coached the women’s team who won the SAFF U15 Championship in Bangladesh.

Bharat Shah was the coach when the men’s and women’s national team won a silver each at the CAVA Central Zone Beach Volleyball. 

Chandra Gurung’s coaching led Nepali athletes to win two gold and a bronze in senior category and two silvers and a bronze in junior category at 16th Asian Cross Country Championship.

Dipak Maharjan coached the players in the men’s and women’s categories to win a silver and three bronze medals at ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships. 

Ongden Lama helped Tribhuwan Army Club win 20 gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals at 9th National Games.