National men’s cricket team skipper Rohit Paudel and karateka Arika Gurung were adjourned Male Player of the Year and Female Player of the Year at the NSJF Pulsar Sports Award 2080 on Friday.

Under Paudel’s captaincy, Nepal qualified for the T20 World Cup for the first time in a decade. His leadership also saw Nepal compete in the Asia Cup for the first time. Cricketer Dipendra Singh Airee, karateka Mahammed Shekhu Alam, footballer Ananta Tamang, and golfer Subash Tamang were nominees in the Male Player of the Year category.

Gurung secured a historic silver medal for Nepal at the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China, last year. Gurung’s silver in the 68 kg weight category was Nepal’s only third silver at the Asian Games. In addition to Gurung, footballer Sabitra Bhandari, cricketer Rubina Chhetri, athlete Santoshi Shrestha, and kabaddi player Menuka Rajbanshi were nominated for Female Player of the Year.

Volleyball player Kabita Bhatta won the People’s Choice award. She won the award with 56 percent of the votes. National volleyball player Bhatta was a member of the Nepali team that finished second in the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Nations League 2024 and third in the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Challenge Cup 2023.

Manmati Bista of Kabaddi secured second place with 19 percent of the votes, Preeti Rai of football came in third with 16 percent, while Gulshan Jha of cricket and Shriram Shrestha of rugby finished in fourth place. The winner was determined based on eSewa voting, the votes of head coaches from 29 sports associations, NSJF members, and likes on the official Facebook pages of Pulsar Sports Award and Pulsar Nepal.

Former Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) president Binay Raj Pandey was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Taekwondo player Palesha Goverdhan received the Para Athlete of the Year Award. On August 31, Goverdhan made history, defeating Serbia’s Marija Micev 15-8 in the bronze medal match to become the first Nepali athlete to win a Paralympic medal.

Volleyball coach Kumar Rai was honoured with the Special Award. Karate’s Kushal Shrestha won the Coach of the Year Award. Shrestha was the head coach of silver medallist Gurung in Hangzhou.

Nominees of the Coach of the Year also included para-taekwondo coach Kabiraj Negi Lama, cricket coach Monty Desai, kabaddi coach Parvati Rai, and weightlifting coach Sanjay Maharjan.

Weightlifter Hemant Pal won the Youth Player of the Year Award. At just 16 years old, Hemant won a bronze medal at the Asian Junior Weightlifting Championship held in Noida, India. This bronze is the first medal for Nepali weightlifting at the Asian level in 38 years. Cricketer Arjun Kumal, footballer Preeti Rai, table tennis player Sujan Gadal, and tennis player Sunira Thapa were other nominees for the award.

The women’s kabaddi team was declared the team of the year, and Hee Dong Jong from South Korea was honoured with the Asian Sports Journalist Award.

According to the Nepal Sports Journalists Forum, winners in the Male, Female, Youth, and Coach categories received a Pulsar NS 200 motorbike, while the People’s Choice winner was awarded a Pulsar NS 400 motorbike. Other category winners received a cash prize of Rs100,000 each and a gift hamper.