KATHMANDU: Footballer Ju Manu Rai and swimmer Karishma Karki bagged the prestigious Pulsar Player of the Year (PoY) award here at an award function organised by Nepal Sports Journalists Forum today.

Senior weightlifting coach and NIS (National Institute of Sports) Director Partha Sarathi Sen Gupta was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement and national cricket allrounder Mehboob Alam with the Special Achievement award. Other winners include Nepal Police Club athlete Keshari Chaudhary (Youth PoY), Sushil Narsingha Rana (Coach) and spiker Manju Gurung (Popular PoY).

National team and Nepal Police Club striker Rai played a crucial role in Nepal’s qualification for the AFC Challenge Cup. The forward also helped NPC reach the semi-finals of the AFC President’s Cup, scoring five goals on the way. On the domestic front, he helped NPC clinch the Aaha Gold Cup in Pokhara and Shahid Gold Cup in Jhapa. Other nominees in the Best Male category were golfer Shivaram Shrestha, athlete Bal Krishna Chaudhary, FIDE master Manish Hamal and weightlifter Kamal Bahadur Adhikari.

Female category winner Karki bagged the top honour for her haul of 12 gold medals during the the fifth National Games (April 6-12). By winning 12 gold medals, she also broke Nayana Shakya’s record haul of nine gold medals in a single meet. Nayana had set the record during the fourth National Games a decade earlier. Karishma also set two national records on her way to win seven gold medals during the Galaxy Open Swimming Championships. Other nominees for the award were cricketer Rekha Rawal, athlete Pramila Rijal, judoka Sunita Magar and weightlifter Jhanta Katuwal.

Partha Sarathi Sen Gupta, 55, was honoured for his selfless contribution for the Nepali sports over the three last decades, especially in weightlifting. He is credited to hand Nepal the maximum number of international medals in weightlifting. Under his guidance, Nepal have won more than 130 South Asian Games medals.

Alam was recognised for his remarkable feat during the Pepsi World Cricket League Division-V match against Mozambique in Jersey last year. Alam single-handed bowled out the opposition to imprint his name in the history book. He is the first cricketer to achieve the feat in the ICC (International Cricket Council) recognised limited overs cricket. Only in the Test cricket had Jim Laker of England and Anil Kumble of India been able to accomplish the feat.

Dynamic athlete Chaudhary topped four other contenders to win the Best Youth award for a haul of five gold medals in athletics — long jump, high jump, triple jump, 4x100m and 4x400m relay — during the fifth National Games. She also set a national record (11.30 metre) in triple jump during the Games. Chaudhary was also member of Nepali ACC U-19 Championship winning team in Thailand. Other nominees in the category included athlete Bishwo Rupa Buda, cricketers Prithu Baskota and Maya Rawat, and footballer Biraj Maharjan.

Volleyball player Manju earned more than half the total votes to win the Popular Player category. She received 112,220 votes while her closest contender Karishma got 42,668. In all, 197,916 SMS votes were received. The SMS voting was done through THT Live 2722 voting service. One lucky voters with mobile number 9806534031 also won a Samsung digital camera. Other nominees in the category were footballers Rakesh Shrestha and Bikash Malla, cricketer Binod Das, Pramila Rijal and Manish Hamal.

Sushil Narsingha Rana was declared the best coach for inspiring Nepal APF Club to 19 gold medals out of 35 on offer during the fifth National Games. Apart from the medal counts, he also helped two of his athletes — Pramila and Bal Krishna — set new national records.

National and international players entertained the crowd by their fashion shows and dance during the function. Performances by singer Nima Rumba and comedian Dipak Raj Giri also added a new favour to the programme.

Winners in the Male, Female and Popular award category received Rs 25,000 each while winners in the Youth, Coach and Special award got Rs 15,000 each. Winners also got a Samsung digital camera each. Executive Director of Golcha Organisation Shekhar Golcha, NSJF President Niranjan Rajbanshi, NSJF General Secretary Hemanta Kafle among others gave away the awards.