Kathmandu, February 18

Bimal Adhikari of paragliding and Nima Gurung of taekwondo were declared the outstanding athletes at the 14th NNIPA Sports Awards here at the Basantapur Dabali today.

Adhikari and Gurung were selected from among the 28 best players recommended by their national associations.

Also named the best players in their respective sports disciplines, Adhikari and Gurung received Rs 100,000 each.

Other winners of the best player awards included Bharat Khawas (football), Saraswoti Chaudhary (volleyball), Sushmita Nepal (shooting), Sanju Chaudhary (weightlifting), Subham Shrestha (swimming), Nabita Shrestha (table tennis), Omkar Singh (fencing), Prerana Koirala (tennis), Renuka Kumar Rajbanshi (kabaddi), Roshan Tamang (sepak takraw), Pemba Sherpa (sport climbing) and Milan Singh Thakuri (boxing).

Likewise, Bhupendra Thapa (roller sport), Dipesh Dhami (badminton), Upendra Thapa (kurans), Govinda Chaudhary (pencak silat), Basanta Tharu (triathlon), Ajit Kumar Yadav (golf), Manish Raj Upadhyaya (basketball), Indra Shrestha (judo), Bijay Shrestha (karate), Resham Gautam (wrestling), Juni Rai (wushu), Tilak Pun Magar (archery) and Tanka Bahadur Karki (golf) also won the awards. All the award winners received trophy and Rs 10,000 each. The Nepal National and International Players Association included the 28 sports disciplines in the award based on Nepal’s participation in the 2018 Asian Games held in Indonesia.

Boxing coach Madan Kumar Gurung was honoured with the Gajaraj Joshi Ideal Sports Personality Award. Gurung, who is also the AIBA Referee and second-class officer at the National Sports Council, is regarded as one of the successful coaches in terms of producing the likes of Dal Bahadur Rana, Pushkar Dhoj Shahi, Prakash Thapa Magar and Man Bahadur Shrestha among others.

He received Rs 35,000 along with felicitation letter.

Spiker Saraswoti Chaudhary and athlete Ajit Kumar Yadav were named the emerging players and they earned Rs 50,000 each. Boccia player Mahima Koirala won the para-athlete award and received Rs 10,000. Rajendra Chitrakar was honoured with NNIPA Sports Journalist Award and he got Rs 25,000. The NNIPA also felicitated AIPS Sports Award winner and General Secretary of Nepal Sports Journalists Forum Prajwal Oli on the occasion.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Vidhya Sundar Shakya, Nepal Olympic Committee President Jeevan Ram Shrestha, National Sports Council Vice-president Pitamber Timsina and Member Secretary Ramesh Kumar Silwal, Madhyapur Thimi Municipality Mayor Madan Sundar Shrestha and NNIPA President Deepak Shrestha among others handed over the awards to the athletes. Going with the tradition of organising the award ceremony in different historic sites, Madhyapur Thimi will host the next edition.