Martyr Dasharath Chand Memorial Trust on Saturday honoured eight athletes with Dasharath Chand best player award at the Dasharath Stadium premises in Kathmandu. 

A player each from five development regions of the country and two para athletes were rewarded on the basis of their performance in the year 2016/17 (2073 BS). Footballer Nawayug Shrestha (Eastern Region), volleyball’s Pratibha Mali (Central), athletics’ Bipana Pariyar (Central), cricketer Nary Thapa (Mid-west) and taekwondo player Nisha Rawal (Far-west) were the players felicitated. 

Under para athlete category, Sita Bhandari of taekwondo and Bikram Bahadur Rana of cricket-cum-athletics received the honour. The trust, which has been felicitating players since 2005, has added para category for the first time.

Meanwhile, mountaineer and ultra-runner Sanjay Pandit was given the same award posthumously. He had died due to altitude sickness while descending from Mount Denali, the highest peak of North America, on June 17. All the players recognised for their achievements received a cash prize of Rs 10,000 each. Mali, Bhandari and Rana were the only players to attend the award ceremony organised on the occasion of 115th birth anniversary of martyr Chand.  

Former Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand, National Sports Council Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista, Trust’s President Karna Bahadur Chand among others honoured the athletes. Bista informed that the sports governing body has allocated Rs 100,000 to the Trust from the new fiscal year. Earlier, a minute of silence was observed in front of Chand’s bust on the stadium premises before the ceremony kicked off.