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Dhanraj, Pritam nominated for FIH awards

India's Dhanraj Pillay, Pritam Rani Thakran, The Netherlands' Stephan Veen and Carole Thate, Australia's Jay Stacey and Alyson Annan, Pakistan's Atif Bashir, New Zealand's Mandy Smith, and Malaysia's Mirnavan Nawawi are among the contenders for the inaugural FIH international player of the year awards.

The award winners will be announced and honoured in Alexandria, Egypt, during a dinner, officially commemorating the 76th anniversary of the FIH, to be held on October 26. The winners will also be publicly honoured between two elite-level exhibition matches scheduled for October 27.

A 10-member selection panel, comprising coaches, athletes, umpires and members of the media, are now examining the nominations received from all five continents. Judging criteria include skill technique and championships won, leadership qualities, impact on team performance, disciplinary record and involvement in hockey off the field of play.

The winners will receive specially-commissioned bronze statues depicting a male or female player in action. The statues were created by Dutch artist, Jannelies Raaijmakers-Vermeulen.

Other players nominated for the men's award are: Jorge Lombi, (Argentina), Magdi Ahmed Abdulla (Egypt), Russel Garcia (England), Jean Louis Ponthieu (France), Klaus Michler (Germany), Seung Tae Song (Korea), Greg Nicol (South Africa), and Joaquin Malgosa Morera (Spain).

Players nominated for the women's award are: Alyson Annan, (Australia), Rechelle Hawkes (Australia), Karen Brown (England), Nadine Ernsting-Krienke (Germany), Sophie Liobet (France), Pritam Rani (India), Eun Young Lee (Korea), Carole Thate (Netherlands), Sue (Fraser), Scotland Mandy Smith (New Zealand), and Peggy Storrar (USA).

It should be noted that national associations were permitted to nominate players from outside their own country, which accounts in some cases for multiple nominations from a single country.

UNI