claim for top honours
Cricket looks to hit big in this year’s Pulsar Sports Award, with
strong challenge coming from swimming with spots in each of the
nominations announced for four categories on Tuesday.
Three swimmers and a coach are the four candidates in each of the categories—Best Male Player of the Year, Best Female Player of the Year, Best Youth Player of the Year and Best Coach of the Year. Equestrian also found an unlikely spot in the Best Male Player of the Year category.
The Best Male Player of the Year is likely to see a keen contest with each of the nominees—cricketer Parash Khadka, equestrian Dhurba Prasad Aryal, golfer Shiva Ram Shrestha, swimmer Shailesh Rana and sprinter Tilak Ram Tharu— having notable achievement last year.
Khadka made 95 runs to lead Armed Police Force to a triumph in the Sixth National Games over Nepal Police Club. His other achievements include guiding Nepal to their maiden semi-final of the ACC T2- Cricket Championship, helping minnows Nepal finish seventh in the World T20 qualifiers in UAE and bagging three most-valuable-player awards in the nine matches that Nepal played in the tournament.
Golfer Shiva Ram Shrestha won seven of the total 11 tournaments last year that saw his annual earnings surge to Rs909,600. Swimmer Shaliesh Rana also has a strong base—wining 14 medals, including 19 golds and four silver medals. He also set a new record of 2min 31.7 secs in the 200m individual medley and bagged seven gold medals in the 11th Galaxy Cup.
Tilak Ram Tharu rewrote the record books in the 400m by clocking 48.32 secs and bagged five gold medals in two tournaments. Another candidate Dhurba Prasad Aryal gave Nepal the only gold medal at the First South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka, wining an individual gold in equestrian. Likewise, Pramila Rijal (athletics), Shreya Dhital (swimming), Tara Pun (weightlifting) Nabita Shrestha (table-tennis), Ngashala Devi Tamang are the nominees in the Best Female Player of the Year category.
Pun looks the strongest of the five candidates, with two national records and an individual title of the Strongest Woman to help her cause. Pun set a new national record in the 69kg category, with a total lift of 157kgs including 91kg in clean and jerk. Her achievements did not stop there. The former Maoist combatant made another record in Weighlifting Grand Prix and was awarded the title of the ‘Strongest Woman’ at the First South Asian Weight-lifting Championship.
In Youth Player of the Year category, Prithu Baskota (cricket) looks the strongest bet with challenges coming from Sirish Gurung (swimming), Siddhanta Adhikari, Biswarupa Buda (athletics) and Rubin Chettri (cricket). Baskota, skipper of the Nepal U-19 team, was a key member in APF’s win in the National Games. He led Nepal to the second spot in the ICC U-19 World Cup qualifiers.
The Coach of the Year Award category has three candidates—Jagat Tamata, Nabin Singh and Pubudu Dassanayake—from cricket vying for the honours. Tamata, the coach of U-19 national side, made to the list on the back of his achievements in the U-19 World Cup qualifiers in Ireland.
Singh led Janakpur to title at the Women’s U-19 National Championship as well as securing a hat-trick of wins at the ACC U-19 Women’s Championship in Kuwait. Dassanayake, meanwhile, helped Nepal reach the ACC T20 Cup semi-finals and helped the team qualify to the ICC T-20 World Cup. The other nominees in the category are Ishowro Karki of swimming and Bir Bahadur Rana of judo.
Three swimmers and a coach are the four candidates in each of the categories—Best Male Player of the Year, Best Female Player of the Year, Best Youth Player of the Year and Best Coach of the Year. Equestrian also found an unlikely spot in the Best Male Player of the Year category.
The Best Male Player of the Year is likely to see a keen contest with each of the nominees—cricketer Parash Khadka, equestrian Dhurba Prasad Aryal, golfer Shiva Ram Shrestha, swimmer Shailesh Rana and sprinter Tilak Ram Tharu— having notable achievement last year.
Khadka made 95 runs to lead Armed Police Force to a triumph in the Sixth National Games over Nepal Police Club. His other achievements include guiding Nepal to their maiden semi-final of the ACC T2- Cricket Championship, helping minnows Nepal finish seventh in the World T20 qualifiers in UAE and bagging three most-valuable-player awards in the nine matches that Nepal played in the tournament.
Golfer Shiva Ram Shrestha won seven of the total 11 tournaments last year that saw his annual earnings surge to Rs909,600. Swimmer Shaliesh Rana also has a strong base—wining 14 medals, including 19 golds and four silver medals. He also set a new record of 2min 31.7 secs in the 200m individual medley and bagged seven gold medals in the 11th Galaxy Cup.
Tilak Ram Tharu rewrote the record books in the 400m by clocking 48.32 secs and bagged five gold medals in two tournaments. Another candidate Dhurba Prasad Aryal gave Nepal the only gold medal at the First South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka, wining an individual gold in equestrian. Likewise, Pramila Rijal (athletics), Shreya Dhital (swimming), Tara Pun (weightlifting) Nabita Shrestha (table-tennis), Ngashala Devi Tamang are the nominees in the Best Female Player of the Year category.
Pun looks the strongest of the five candidates, with two national records and an individual title of the Strongest Woman to help her cause. Pun set a new national record in the 69kg category, with a total lift of 157kgs including 91kg in clean and jerk. Her achievements did not stop there. The former Maoist combatant made another record in Weighlifting Grand Prix and was awarded the title of the ‘Strongest Woman’ at the First South Asian Weight-lifting Championship.
In Youth Player of the Year category, Prithu Baskota (cricket) looks the strongest bet with challenges coming from Sirish Gurung (swimming), Siddhanta Adhikari, Biswarupa Buda (athletics) and Rubin Chettri (cricket). Baskota, skipper of the Nepal U-19 team, was a key member in APF’s win in the National Games. He led Nepal to the second spot in the ICC U-19 World Cup qualifiers.
The Coach of the Year Award category has three candidates—Jagat Tamata, Nabin Singh and Pubudu Dassanayake—from cricket vying for the honours. Tamata, the coach of U-19 national side, made to the list on the back of his achievements in the U-19 World Cup qualifiers in Ireland.
Singh led Janakpur to title at the Women’s U-19 National Championship as well as securing a hat-trick of wins at the ACC U-19 Women’s Championship in Kuwait. Dassanayake, meanwhile, helped Nepal reach the ACC T20 Cup semi-finals and helped the team qualify to the ICC T-20 World Cup. The other nominees in the category are Ishowro Karki of swimming and Bir Bahadur Rana of judo.
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