Cricket and karate dominate the nominees list with five nominations each while wushu has three nominations. Athletics, taekwondo and football have two nominations each. Table tennis also has a nomination. [break]
The Pulsar Sports Award 2066 will honor players and sports officials in eight categories.
Cricket´s national captain Paras Khadka, karate´s Binod Shakya and Sunil Lama, athlete Rajendra Bhandari and wushu´s Ang Babu Lama are nominated for the Player of the Year (Male) award.
Similarly, cricket´s Nary Thapa, taekwondo´s Ayasha Shakya, karate´s Ganga Adhikari, football´s Jamuna Gurung and Muna Basukala of table tennis are nominated for the Player of the Year (Female) award.
For Youth Player of the Year, NSJF nominated Binita Maharjan of wushu, Anu Adhikari of karate, Anu Lama of football and cricket´s Nischal Pandey and Rahul Kumar BK.
Cricket´s Roy Dias, karate´s Deepak Shrestha, athletics´ Narayan Yadav, wushu´s Prakash Lama and taekwondo´s Kyon Young Dal are nominated for the Coach of the Year award.
The other categories are Lifetime Achievement award, Popular Player of the Year award, Special award and Para-athlete of the Year award.
The Player Selection Committee comprising of coordinator Mahesh Acharya, Binod Pandey, Prajeet Shakya, Himesh Bajracharya and Ujjwal Acharya nominated the players based on their performances during the last Nepali calendar year.
"We believe that we have selected the best of the best performing players," Pandey, who is also the NSJF vice-president, said during the announcement.
NSJF Secretary Acharya unveiled the nominees while Bajracharya shed light on the procedure of selecting the players.
Players have already been nominated for the Popular Player of the Year to be finalized through SMS voting.
There will not be any nominations for Para-athlete, Lifetime Achievement and Special awards.
The award ceremony will be held on September 14 at the Nepal Academy Hall in Kathmandu.
NOMINEES
Best Male Player
Paras Khadka (Cricket): Nepal lifted the ICC World Cricket League Division-5 in Khadka´s captaincy which is one of the major achievements of senior Nepali cricket. Khadka scored 250 runs and hauled a wicket in the tournament. Nepal made it to the final of the ACC Trophy after eight years in his captaincy.
Binod Shakya (Karate): Shakya won gold in kumite in the 11th South Asian Games (SAG).
Rajendra Bhandari (Marathon): Bhandari made a successful comeback in the 11th SAG to win gold in road race after failing doping test in the 10th edition. He is the only Nepali athlete to bag gold in athletics. Bhandari is also the winner of Real Kathmandu Marathon and NIBL Half-marathon.
Sunil Lama (Karate): Lama won gold in kumite in the 11th SAG.
Angbabu Lama (Wushu): Lama won gold in thaulow with highest points in the 11th SAG. He won gold in tai chi in the South Asian Championship in Bangladesh. He won bronze in the World Tai Chi Championship in Taiwan.
Best Female Player
Nary Thapa (Cricket): Thapa claimed 14 wickets and won the best bowler award to steer Nepal to third position in the ACC Women´s Championship. Thapa displayed individual best bowling among Nepali cricketers in international outings. She claimed five wickets of Bhutan giving away five runs.
Ayasha Shakya (Taekwondo): Shakya won gold in the 11th SAG.
Ganga Adhikari (Karate): Adhikari won gold in kumite in the 11th SAG.
Jamuna Gurung (Football): Gurung captained the national team that won silver in the 11th SAG. She scored seven goals including a hat-trick in the tournament.
Muna Basukala (Table Tennis): Basukala won two bronze medals in the 11th SAG. She became the first player to win medal in table tennis in singles event after the 1991 SAG.
Best Youth Player
Binita Maharjan (Wushu): Maharjan won gold in thaulow tai chi chuan in the 11th SAG.
Anu Adhikari (Karate): Adhikari won silver in kumite in the 11th SAG.
Nischal Pandey (Cricket): Pandey become the first Nepali player to haul five wickets and score a half century in a match during the ACC U-16 Elite Cup. He scored 161 runs and claimed 16 wickets during the tournament, walking away with the best bowler and man of the series awards.
Rahul Kumar BK (Cricket): BK pocketed seven wickets against the USA during Nepal´s victory in the final of the ICC WCL Div-5. He claimed the highest eight wickets along with Sanjam Regmi in Nepal´s journey to the ACC Trophy final.
Anu Lama (Football): She was a member of the national football team that won silver in the 11th SAG. She scored five goals against Pakistan in the event.
Best Coach
Roy Luke Dias (Cricket): Dias was the coach of the Nepali team that won the ICC WCL Div-5 tournament. Under his guidance, Nepali team made it to the final of the ACC Trophy after eight years. He also coached the ACC U-16 finalist team.
Dipak Shrestha (Karate): Nepal won three gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the 11th SAG under Shrestha´s coaching.
Narayan Yadav (Athletics): He was the coach of athlete Rajendra Bhandari who won gold in the 11th SAG road race.
Prakash Lama (Wushu): Nepal won two golds and a bronze medal in the 11th SAG under his coaching.
Kyon Young Dal (Taekwondo): Nepal won two golds, three silvers and a bronze under his coaching.
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