Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) on Tuesday revealed the eight nominees each in the youth player and coach of the year for annual Pulsar Sports Award set to take place on February 11 at Hotel Yak and Yeti in Kathmandu.

The nominations include two players each from football, cricket and boxing in the youth category along with one each from golf and athletics, according to a press release issued by NSJF who are set to organise the 20th edition.

Youth footballers Unesh Budathoki and Sujata Tamang, cricketers Dev Khanal and Dipesh Kandel, boxer Sushma Tamang and Bijay Bata are the nominees in the youth category. Golfer Sadbhav Acharya and athlete Ram Maya Budha complete the list.

Similarly, cricket coaches Monty Desai and Jagat Tamata, football coaches Bhagwati Rana Magar and Ananta Raj Thapa, boxing's Deepak Maharjan, athletics' Chandra Gurung, volleyball's Bharat Shah and swimming's Ongden Lama are the nominees for coach of the year award.

According to NSJF, the nominations were made on the basis of performance and outcome of players and coaches at the domestic and international level in the past Nepali calendar year (2079 BS). The top three players and coaches each will be revealed in a few days and the winner will be declared during the award ceremony, stated NSJF.

The organisers have already made eight nominations each for male and female player of the year apart from five nominees in peoples' choice award. The winner of the peoples' choice category which will be decided through eSewa voting, points allocated by sports journalists and chief coaches of 27 sports associations affiliated with Nepal Olympic Committee and Facebook likes. The winners of the other four categories will be decided by a selection committee of NSJF. The winners of male, female, youth, coach and peoples’ choice award will be rewarded with a Pulsar motorbike each.

Footballer Budathoki was an influential member of the Nepal U-17 team that finished runners-up last year in SAFF U-17 Championship in Sri Lanka. He finished joint highest scorer in the tournament with four goals under his belt. Footballer Tamang was the goalkeeper of women's U-15 and U-17 national teams. She played a key role in Nepal's SAFF U-15 title haul and also won the best goalkeeper award. She was also declared best goalkeeper in SAFF U-17 Championships.

Cricketer Khanal was the captain of Nepal U-19 team that claimed Asia Regional Qualifiers title and secured a place in the U-19 Cricket World Cup for the first time in eight years. He scored 125 runs against Kuwait and crucial 51 runs against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the final to score a total of 197 runs in three innings among five matches played.

Khanal's teammate Kandel claimed a hat-trick against the UAE in the title decider of Asia Regional Qualifiers. He grabbed five wickets in the final including a hat-trick in the 48th over when UAE required 11 runs for victory from the last three overs. He finished with 12 wickets in the tournament.

Boxer Tamang claimed silver medal in the Asian U-22 Women's and Men's Boxing Championships as Nepal earned first silver in the Asian age level boxing. She also won gold in the Ninth National Games women's 48kg division. Bata claimed the men's bronze in the same tournament. Athlete Budha finished with junior women's bronze in both individual and team events. She was also the 1500m gold medallist at Golden Athletics Meet along with top place finisher at Junior National Athletics in 3000m.

Golfer Acharya claimed Nepal Tourism Cup golf pairing with Subash Tamang and was also the gold medallists at Bangladesh Amateur Golf championship. He also secured the winners' trophy at the Ninth National Games.

Football coach Ananta Thapa guided Nepali women's team to runners-up finish in the Women's SAFF Championship where Nepal defeated India for the first time in SAFF. Rana Magar was the women's U-15 and U-17 team coach. Under her, Nepal claimed the U-15 title, the second silverware by Nepal women's youth team.

Cricket coach Tamata led Nepali team to the U-19 World Cup after eight years as the champions of the Asia Regional Qualifier. Nepali national cricket team coach Desai helped Nepali team retain One Day International (ODI) status. Under him Nepal won nine among the last 12 games of the World Cup League 2 as Nepal not only retained ODI status but also earned a direct berth for World Cup Qualifiers.

Boxing coach Maharjan led Nepal U-22 boxing team to a silver and three bronze medals at the ABC U-22 Asian Women's and Men's Boxing Championships. Athletics coach Chandra Gurung led Nepal to two gold and one silver in the senior category of Asian Cross Country Championships along with two silver and a bronze in junior. Volleyball coach Bharat Shah was the coach of the national men's and women's volleyball team that earned silver in both categories at CAVA Central Zone Beach Volleyball in both categories.