Kathmandu, August 9:

Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) announced the nominees of NSJF LG Player of the Year (PoY) Awards-2006/07 here today.

A five-member selection committee under NSJF secretary Mahesh Acharya made public five nominees each in four categories — Male, Female, Youth and best coach of the year. The winner of the remaining two categories — Lifetime achievement and Special Award — will be announced during the award ceremony on August 20, said Acharya.

Taekwondo ace Deepak Bista, cricket captain Binod Das, lifter Kamal Bahadur Adhikari, professional golfer Deepak Thapa Magar and wushu player Raj Kumar Rasaili were nominated in the male category.

Bista won third successive gold medal in the 10th South Asian Games before claiming bronze medal in Asian Games in Doha.

Das led Nepal to a historical win in the ACC Premier League. He took 20 wickets in four matches during the event. Das was also instrumental in guiding Nepal to semi-finals of the sixth ACC Trophy in Malaysia taking 16 wickets in six matches. He also led Region-2 (Birgunj) to the first ever national championship.

Adhikari became the first to clinch weightlifting gold (69kg) in the regional games (10th SAG).

Thapa Magar is the first Nepali pro to win the reputed Surya Nepal Masters. He also won the CMC All Nepal Open Golf Tournament.

Rasaili is the first male player to bag Wushu gold in the 10th SAG and had represented Nepal in the 15th Asian Games.

Nominees for the Female category included athlete Kanchi Maya Koju, taekwondo players Manita Shahi and Ayesha Shakya, wushu player Bina Khadka ‘Lama’ and Karateka Sulochana Sijakhwa.

Koju set national record in 10,000m on her way to win silver medal in 10th SAG. This is the third time in a row that Koju was nominated for the awards. Shahi is the 10th SAG gold and 15th Asiad bronze medallist. Shakya won silver in 10th SAG and bronze medal in 15th Asiad. Bina won in Thaulo Nanquan Allround gold while Sijakhwa won gold in karate kata.

Ayesha Shakya was also nominated in Youth PoY along with cricketers Paras Khadka, Suvendu Pandey and Krishna Karki, and footballer Nirajan Malla.

Among the nominees for the best coach of the year section were Roy Luke Dias (cricket), Kwon Hyouk Joung (taekwondo), Hira Singh Dangol (karate), Gopal Shrestha (wushu) and Tilak Bahadur Raut (weightlifting).