Pokhara, June 1

Bodybuilder Kamal Bhandari and karateka Bimala Nepali won the Player of the year awards of the third TVS Apache Pokhara Sports Award here at the City Hall today.

Bhandari, who has been active in the sport since last 17 years, had finished sixth in the World Championship in Mongolia and won bronze medal in South Korea. Cricketer Karan KC and archer Tilak Bahadur Pun were the other two nominees in the men’s category.

Karateka Nepali won the women’s section award ahead of archer Keshari Ale Magar and hockey player Kamala Pun. Nepali had won gold medals in kata in the national level tournament in Lamjung apart from bagging two gold medals in the SKIF International Championship in Goa. She also won silver medals in the NSC Championship and an international tournament in Dhangadhi.

Prof Birendra Singh Gurung was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution in the development in sports infrastructure. The Prithvi Narayan Campus Chief Gurung had introduced hockey, tennis and cricket in Pokhara.

Likewise, cricketer Mekh Bahadur Thapa was declared the emerging player. Thapa, who was the member of the national team that won the ACC U-16 Eastern Region Cricket Tournament in Thailand last year, also played in Manmohan Memorial Cup, U-16 President’s Cup, Kaski Cricket League and Machhapuchhre Cricket League among others.

Kabaddi player Buddhi Maya Magar and athlete Bikek Adhikari were also in the race in the youth category.

Jeevan Ghimire of bodybuilding won the best coach’s award ahead of Shiva Bahadur Gurung (karate) and Rijan Praju (cricket). Also, Kaski District Badminton Association was named the best association, while Santosh Pokhrel of Nagarik was felicitated with the sports tourism journalism award. The best players Bhandari and Nepali received motorcycles from TVS Apache, the main sponsors of the event organised by Nepal Sports Journalists Forum Kaski, while other winners received Rs 15,000 and Samsung mobiles from Worldwide Connection.

Youth and Sports Minister Jagat Bahadur Sunar, Vice-president of Jagadamba Motors Deepak Kumar Agrawal, Batas Brothers Director Pramesh Parajuli, Regional Sports Development Committee President Khagaraj Paudel, NSJF General Secretary Prakash Timalsina, NSJF Kaski President Keshav Pathak, Founder President of NSJF Kaski Ram Krishna Gyawali, FNJ Province Committee President Tribhuvan Paudel and FNJ Kaski President Dipendra Shrestha handed over the awards to the winners.