Lausanne: Indian men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and former goalkeeper PR Sreejesh have been nominated for the Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year awards, respectively, as the International Hockey Federation announced the list of 30 players shortlisted for the FIH Hockey Stars Awards.
Sreejesh recently called time on a legendary career with a second straight Olympic bronze medal at the Paris Games, where he stood firm in front of the Indian goalpost.
Skipper Harmnapreet, however, was the top scorer in the Paris Olympics with a total of 10 goals, including two crucial goals in the bronze medal match. He also scored two goals against Australia, leading India to their first Olympic victory against them in 52 years.
The list of nominees was established by an expert panel including players, coaches and officials selected by each of their Continental Federations.
The expert panel consists of Janne Muller-Wieland (Germany) and Simon Mason (England) from Europe, Tahir Zaman (Pakistan) and Deepika (India) from Asia, Soledad Iparraguirre (Argentina) and Craig Parnham (USA) from Pan America, Sarah Bennett (Zimbabwe) and Ahmed Youssef (Egypt) from Africa and Amber Church (New Zealand) and Adam Webster (Australia) from Oceania.
The expert panel was provided access to match data from all international matches held in 2024, including Test Matches, the FIH Hockey Pro League, FIH Hockey Nations Cups, FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers and the Olympic Games Paris 2024 before establishing the final list of nominees, as per FIH release.
The voting process is open until October 11. National Associations – represented by their respective national teams’ captains and coaches -, fans, players, coaches, officials and media can register their vote.
The votes of the expert panel count for 40% of the overall result. Those from National Associations count for a further 20%. The fans and other players (20%) as well as the media (20%) will make up the remaining 40%.
FIH Player of the Year Award – Nominees:
Women: Gu Bingfeng (CHN), Yibbi Jansen (NED), Nike Lorenz (GER), Stephanie Vanden Borre (BEL), Xan de Waard (NED)
Men: Thierry Brinkman (NED), Joep de Mol (NED), Hannes Müller (GER), Harmanpreet Singh (IND), Zach Wallace (ENG)
FIH Goalkeeper of the Year Award – Nominees:
Women: Cristina Cosentino (ARG), Aisling D’Hooghe (BEL), Nathalie Kubalski (GER), Anne Veenendaal (NED), Ye Jiao (CHN)
Men: Pirmin Blaak (NED), Luis Calzado (ESP), Jean-Paul Danneberg (GER), Tomas Santiago (ARG), PR Sreejesh (IND)
FIH Rising Star of the Year Award – Nominees
Women: Claire Colwill (AUS), Zoe Díaz (ARG), Tan Jinzhuang (CHN), Emily White (BEL), Linnea Weidemann (GER)
Men: Bautista Capurro (ARG), Bruno Font (ESP), Sufyan Khan (PAK), Michel Struthoff (GER), Arno Van Dessel (BEL)
–IANS