Teenage badminton sensation Prince Dahal and cricketer Kushal Bhurtel were among the nominees for the Peoples' Choice Award under the annual Pulsar Sports Award event set to take place on March 22 in Kathmandu.

Along with the duo, middle distance runner Santoshi Shrestha, footballer Anjila Tumbapo Subba and table tennis’ Elina Maharjan were among the five nominees unveiled on Sunday.

The winners among them will be picked on the basis of eSewa votes, Facebook likes and points allocated by head coaches of 27 sports associations affiliated with the Nepal Olympic Committee and members of the Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF), the organisers of the event.

The eSewa votes will have 50 percent weightage, Facebook likes 25 percent and the points allocated by coaches and NSJF members will have 12.5 percent weightage each, said Govinda Regmi, the secretary of NSJF and coordinator of the players' selection committee. The voting will be open until midnight on March 21.

"The nominations were made on the basis of the player's performance during last year and this year as well as their popularity," said Regmi. The winner among them wins a Pulsar two wheeler besides the gift hampers.

The 17-year-old Dahal is currently the world no 1 player in junior badminton rankings and is also selected for 2024 Olympic project. He has defeated Nepal No 1 in the Ratnajeet Tamang in the domestic tournament and won back-to-back senior titles at the Pushpalal Memorial Ranking National Championship in the last two years.

Appearing in the nomination unveiling ceremony, Dahal thanked organisers for nominating him for the award for the second time in a row.

Cricketer Bhurtel produced a sensational performance in his debut international tournament in April last year during a Tri-Nation Series involving Nepal, Malaysia and the Netherlands. He cracked four half centuries in the tournament including in the final and also scored a century against the Philippines in the World T20 Global Qualifiers. Bhurtel is placed in the 31st position in men's batting ranking in T20I. He is currently on the national team's Sri Lanka tour.

National women's football team goalie Tumbapo Subba is the first choice goalkeeper of the national women's team of Nepal and an influential member of the APF Club that claimed the women's league trophy last year. She conceded just one goal in 12 league games. She played in Pakistan's Women's Championship from Masha United and also captained the team. She is also featuring in a biopic based on her life and career as a footballer.

"I am hopeful of getting your support in future and I would like to thank my family, coaches and teammates for the nomination in the prestigious award," said Tumbapo Subba.

Shrestha is the first athlete from Nepal to win a middle distance gold in athletics in South Asian Games when she achieved the feat during 2019 SAG. After the subcontinental event in December 2019, she has secured top finishes in nine events including the half marathon at the recently held CoAS marathon.

"These kinds of awards are vital for the motivation of players. Last year I had shared the special award with taekwondo's Ayasha Shakya," recalled Shrestha. "The organisers of this award have been doing a fantastic job which the government should have done."

The Sports Award will honour sportspersons in eight different categories. But unlike in the past which awarded male, female and coach with best of the year awards, this time NSJF has announced to honour them with the best of the decade title instead. Apart from these, NSJF will also provide special award, lifetime achievement award, and para athlete honour to sportspersons. A sports journalist from Asia will be given Asian sports journalists award.

The winners of the male, female, coach and people’s choice awards will be presented with Pulsar two wheelers while the winners of the other categories, except for the journalist award, will get a purse of Rs50,000.

Meanwhile, NSJF also inked a voting partnership deal with online payment gateway eSewa before unveiling the nominations for peoples' choice award. NSJF president Durga Nath Subedi and eSewa chief manager Ashish Gautam inked the deal.