The Nepal Sports Journalists Forum revealed the NSJF Pulsar Sports Award-2081’s nominees for the Best Male Player, Best Female Player, Best Youth and Best Coach at a function in Kathmandu on Saturday.

The five-member selection committee led by Anil Malla Thakuri, secretary at NSJF, revealed five nominees each in the four categories.

Two cricketers—Dipendra Singh Airee and Kushal Bhurtel—made it to the ‘Best Male Player’ category, alongside Janak Chand of kho kho, Santoo Shrestha of table tennis and Bijay Sinjali of wushu.

Similarly, in the ‘Best Female Player’, the nominees include two karatekas—Arika Gurung and Alisha Raskoti Magar—kho kho’s Manmati Dhami, footballer Rekha Poudel and volleyball’s Salina Shrestha.

Cricketer Puja Mahato, karateka Anjali Maharjan, boxing’s Swastika Tiruwa, athlete Ajay BK and footballer Samir Tamang are the five players nominated for the ‘Best Youth’ category.

The five coaches vying for the ‘Best Coach of the Year’ award are para taekwondo’s Kabiraj Negi Lama, karate’s Kushal Shrestha, cricket’s Mahesh Prasad Rijal, kho kho’s Laxmi Narayan Baidhya and boxing’s Deepak Maharjan.

“The winners in the four categories will be decided by the NSJF without any voting, but based on their performances and achievements in the Nepali year 2081 BS,” said Niranjan Rajbanshi, a member of the selection committee.

Rajbanshi, who is also a former president of NSJF and the current treasurer of AIPS-ASIA, also informed that the NSJF planned a special award and recognition for Paris 2024’s bronze medallist Palesha Goverdhan.

The award will be held in Pokhara on September 14.