Rohit, Arika bag NSJF Pulsar PoY awards

Kathmandu, Sept. 14: Nepal's national men's cricket team captain Rohit Kumar Paudel and karateka Arika Gurung won the NSJF Pulsar Sports Award 2080 for the best male and female athletes of the year respectively. The awards were presented at a ceremony in the capital city of Kathmandu on Friday.

Rohit´s mother and brother were on the stage to accept the award on his behalf as he is in Canada for the CWC League 2. His brother thanked all the ones who supported Rohit in achieving the feat and expressed thanks from Rohit´s side.

Arika, after receiving the award, also thanked all the hands that held her through her challenges and dedicated the award to all the dreamers who want to be winners.

In one of the major events, Kabita Bhatta, national volleyball player, was decided as the recipient of the prestigious NSJF Pulsar People's Choice Award. She received more than 50 per cent of the votes from the public, national coaches and NSJF members.

Kabita, after receiving her award, thanked her family, coaches and volleyball association among others for motivating and developing her in every step of her achievement.

Similarly, the NSJF Pulsar Team of the Year was awarded to the women's kabaddi team for their achievement, a bronze medal, in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

"We can also win a gold if we are provided with necessary support," said Arbind Jha, general secretary of the All Nepal Kabaddi Association.

Likewise, weightlifter Hemanta Pal was the Youth Player of the Year. It was Kushal Shrestha of karate who was the Coach of the Year at the NSJF Pulsar Sports Award 2080.

Binaya Raj Pandey, former President of CAN, was feted with the NSJF Pulsar Sports Lifetime Achievement Award for all the contributions he made over the years and for laying the foundation for modern Nepali cricket. In his speech, Pandey requested the State to invest more in cricket.

With a captivating video to remind Nepalis of the struggles and sacrifices of volleyball coach Kumar Rai, he was honoured with the NSJF Special Award. Rai was awarded for his contribution to producing female volleyball players through his New Diamond Academy.

Palesha Goverdhan, for entering the Paris Olympics after a gold in the qualifiers, was adjudged the Para Athlete of the Year. Palesha was welcomed for the award by young taekwondoins with a mesmerising display of their abilities.

Also, the prestigious Asian Sports Journalism Award provided in the NSJF's award ceremony annually was provided to Hee Don Jung of South Korea. Jung is also the President of AIPS-ASIA, the Asian division of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS).

"Let us all collaborate for the development of Asian sports," said Jung.

AIPS Awards

On the other hand, the NSJF Pulsar Sports Award 2080 was also the platform for the AIPS-ASIA to hand over their AIPS ASIA Legend Awards. Sports journalists from over 20 Asian countries alongside representatives from AIPS-EUROPE are currently in Nepal for the 25th AIPS ASIA Congress hosted by the NSJF from September 10-14.

The AIPS ASIA Legend Awards were handed over to six journalists including NSJF President Durga Nath Subedi aka Devendra. The other recipients were Abdullah Ibrahim bin Hussain of the United Arab Emirates, Ahmad Khawari Isa of Malaysia, S. Sabanayakan of India, Saleh Abdulajij Alkhulifh of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Mahmud Hossain Khan of Bangladesh.

Similarly, the Hong Kong Sports Press Association was selected and awarded as the Best AIPS-ASIA Association of the Year.

Concluding the event, NSJF President Subedi said that the award ceremony was a bigger blast this time with the presence of sports journalists from across Asia.