Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) on Sunday announced that the 20th edition of the NSJF Pulsar Sports Award 2079 will be held on January 26 in Kathmandu.

Organising a press conference, NSJF also extended the sponsorship deal with Hansaraj Hulaschand and Company (HH), the authorised distributor and producer of Bajaj Pulsar motorbikes in Nepal. NSJF president Durga Nath Subedi (Devendra) and HH executive director Abhimanyu Golchha penned the sponsorship deal.

As per the agreement, HH will provide five N Series Pulsar motorbikes to NSJF that included two N250 and three N160 two wheelers. The motorbikes will be rewarded to the players and coaches. In addition to the motorbike, HH will also provide a purse of Rs1.2 million to NSJF, the umbrella organisation of sports journalists in the country.

This is the 15th year in a row that HH has been sponsoring the annual Sports Award which began in 2003.

NSJF will award players and sportspersons in eight different categories at the award ceremony on the basis of their performance in the past Nepali calendar year (2079 BS). The categories include male, female, coach and youth player of the year, peoples’ choice award, lifetime achievement award, para athlete honour and special award.

HH executive director Golcha said that the investment of the private sector was essential for the development of the sports sector of the country. "Moreover, Pulsar as a brand is associated with sports and youth. It is a matter of pride for us to be associated with NSJF because they have always set a new standard, be it in stage set up or performance. It has been a flagship event for us," he added.

NSJF president Subedi praised HH for their continuous support despite the sluggish economic condition of the country. He added that NSJF was planning to change the format of the award this year. "We are planning to shift the venue from Nepal Academy Hall and it will be revealed in a few days," said Subedi.

A players' selection committee formed by NSJF will reveal the nominees for player of the year male, female, youth, coach and peoples' choice award. The committee will pick the winner of four categories—male, female, youth and coach—the winner of the peoples' choice award will be decided through eSewa votes, Facebook likes and points allocated by NSJF members and chief coaches of sports associations. The winners of the five categories will be rewarded with motorbikes.

There won't be nominations in other categories—para athlete, special and lifetime achievement awards. The winners will be directly revealed during the award ceremony and they will be feted with a purse of Rs50,000 each.

Apart from this, NSJF will also honour international sports journalists with the Asian Sports Journalist Award.

Footballers Anjan Bista (male) and Manish Dangi (youth), volleyball player Aruna Shahi (female), Abdullah Almutairi (coach) and volleyball player Usha Bhandari (peoples' choice award) were the winners in the respective category last year. Couple Dan Bahadur Tamang and Maya Devi Moktan, the parents of national badminton champions Ratnajeet, Sara Devi and Nangsal Devi Tamang were feted with the special award.

Palesha Goverdhan of taekwondo earned para athlete award, Olympian Raghu Raj Onta lifetime achievement award and Mohommed Hiji of Qatar was the winner of Asian Sports Journalist Award.