Young midfielder Hardik Singh and seasoned woman goalkeeper Savita were on Friday named winners of the Balbir Singh Sr Award for male and female Player of the Year for 2022 at the Hockey India 5th Annual Awards 2022 here.
Hardik Singh and Savita received a standing ovation as they were announced as the winners of the Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr. Award for Player of the Year 2022 Awards for Men and Women, respectively.
The winners of the prestigious players' awards for 2022 received a glittering trophy along with a cash prize of INR 25.00 Lakh each. The awards ceremony started with the felicitation of awardees from 2021 and 2022.
For 2021, Indian Men's Hockey Team Legend Amit Singh Bakshi, who was part of the Indian team that won the Gold Medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, received the prestigious Hockey India Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2021.
Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Singh and Savita won the Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr. Award for Player of The Year 2021 awards in the Men's and Women's categories, respectively. The awards for 2022 started with Milestone Awards, given to athletes who achieved important milestones in the past year.
Those that got the awards include Manpreet Singh, Rani, Navjot Kaur, Mandeep Singh, Neha, Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Harmanpreet Singh and Karthi Selvam, who received a cash prize of INR 1.00 lakh for scoring a goal on debut.
Umpire Javed Shaikh was awarded a cash prize of INR 1.50 lakh for officiating in his 150th senior international match. Meanwhile, the Indian women's hockey team and the junior men's team were felicitated with cash awards for winning the FIH Women's Nations Cup Spain 2022 and the Sultan of Johor Cup 2022, respectively.
Umpires and Technical Officials were also recognised at the ceremony for their contribution to the sport.
Meanwhile, the winners of other annual awards were:
Hockey India Jaman Lal Sharma Award for Invaluable Contribution 2022 was presented to Pritam Siwach
Hockey India Baljit Singh Award for Goalkeeper of the Year 2022 to Krishan B Pathak
Hockey India Pargat Singh Award for Defender of the Year 2022 to Harmanpreet Singh
Hockey India Ajit Pal Singh Award for Midfielder of the Year 2022 to Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam
Hockey India Dhanraj Pillay Award for Forward of the Year 2022 to Vandana Katariya
Each of the above categories of awards also carried a prize of INR 5.00 Lakh along with a trophy.
Apart from these, the following awards were also presented:
Hockey India Asunta Lakra Award for Upcoming Player of the Year 2022 (Women - Under 21) was presented to Mumtaz Khan
Hockey India Jugraj Singh Award for Upcoming Player of the Year 2022 (Men - Under 21) was presented to Uttam Singh
Both the above two players received a cash prize of INR 10.00 Lakh each along with a trophy. The final award for the day, the Hockey India Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award 2022, carrying a cash prize of INR 30.00 Lakh and a trophy, was presented to Gurbux Singh for his outstanding contribution to the sport of hockey.