The three most successful players of the 13th South Asian Games (SAG)—swimmer Gaurika Singh, karateka Manday Kaji Shrestha and golfer Subash Tamang—have been nominated in two categories of the annual Pulsar Sports Award.

The trio secured places in two categories as the organisers Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) announced the five nominees each for the player of year male, female, youth and coach categories on Tuesday.

All the names made public during a new conference are gold medal winners of the last SAG held in Kathmandu from December 1 to 10, 2019. The nominees for peoples' choice award have already been made public.

Swimming sensation Singh, who claimed four gold medals in the sub-continental sports meet, was named in the female player of the year category along with karateka Anu Adhikari, taekwondo's Ayasha Shakya, athlete Santosh Shrestha and triathlete Sony Gurung. Singh was also a nominee for the peoples' choice award the winner of which will be decided through eSewa votes, Facebook likes and votes from chief coaches of sports associations and the members of NSJF.

The nominees were picked by an NSJF selection committee coordinated by its secretary Gobina Regmi on the basis of their performance and achievement in the past Nepali calendar year (2076 BS). The winners will be declared during a semi-virtual ceremony on January 12 in Satdobato.

Along with karateka Shrestha and golfer Tamang, the nominees for male player of the year are footballer Bikesh Kuthu, middle distance runner Gopi Chandra Parki and taekwondo's Kamal Shrestha. Karateka Shrestha was already nominated for the peoples' choice award category. Both Shrestha and Tamang had bagged double gold medals in the SAG.

Golfer Tamang was also named in the youth player of the year category along with lifter Sanju Chaudhary, taekwondo's Sina Limbu Maden, judoka Punam Shrestha and taekwondo's Bhupen Shrestha.

The nominees for the coach of the year are wushu's Amar Kumar Thing, karate's Madan Upreti, taekwondo's Nabin Shrestha, boxing's Prakash Thapa Magar and swimming's Shankar Karki.

The NSJF will award a team and individuals in 10 different categories along with para-athletes, lifetime achievement and special and team of the year awards. Asian Sports Journalists award will also be given during the ceremony. The award for the journalist will be presented as recommended by the AIPS-Asia, federation of Asian sports journalists.

Lifetime achievement award will be presented to a sportsperson for his/her long-term contribution towards sports and the special award will be presented for special achievement and contribution to sports.

While there will be five nominees each in male, female, coach, youth, peoples’ choice and special award categories, the winners of lifetime, para-athlete, team of the year and international journalists will be directly revealed during the award function.

The winners of male, female, coach and peoples' choice award will get a Pulsar two-wheeler while the winners of other categories will get Rs50,000 each apart from gift hampers.