Kathmandu 21 July – Cricket, a sport which had dominated the award ceremony in its last edition, was left empty-handed as it could not win any of the awards presented here in Pragya Academy Hall, Kamaladi Kathmandu.
Sandeep Lamichhane, the teen-aged leg spinner who rose into limelight last year, failed to even make it to the top three of the People’s Choice Awards as Namita Shrestha (Table Tennis) emerged victorious with a total votes
extending beyond 150000. Pratibha Mali – Volleyball (1,16,956) and Nawayug Shrestha – Football ( 13075 ) completed the top three. The votes were calculated on the SMS and Facebook likes with 4 likes counting as one vote.
Cricket’s lean year made sure that there were not much of scope left for any other awards as football dominated the day. National Football team was awarded the team of the year award replacing cricket which were its defending winners two years ago.
Similarly Nawayug Shrestha and Anjan Bista (both football) were awarded the Best Player and Best Young Player respectively. Late ANFA acting President Lalit Krishna Shrestha was recognized with a Special Award.
The annual sports award organized by Nepal Sports Journalist Forum (NSJF) and sponsered by Pulsar is the most prestigious sports award in the country. It was however organized in two years gap today as it could not hold its last edition as a result of the devastiating earthquake last year.
