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India's hockey stars made a clean sweep at the FIH Hockey Stars awards, with all the nominees from both the Indian men's and women's hockey teams winning awards.
Here are the awards that were announced by the FIH on Wednesday:
Gurjit Kaur (Best Player, Women), Harmanpreet Singh (Best Player, Men), Savita Punia (Best Goalkeeper, Women), PR Sreejesh (Best Goalkeeper, Men), Sharmila Devi (Best Rising Star, Women) and Vivek Prasad (Best Rising Star, Men) won the awards in their respective categories.
Sjoerd Marijne, captain of the the Indian women’s hockey team, and Indian men's hockey team skipper Graham Reid too grabbed the highest number of votes in their respective categories.
Harmanpreet Singh was the the top-scorer in India's bronze medal-winning performance at the Tokyo Olympics. He was nominated for the award along with Belgium's Arthur Van Doren and Alexander Hendrickx as well as Australia's Jake Whetton, Tim Brand and Aran Zalewski.
India's goalkeepers Sreejesh and Savita Punia were excellent in front of goal, dishing out remarkable performances. Sreejesh came up with a career-best performance at the Olympics and was the cynosure of Indian defense. The other nominees in his category were Belgium's Vincent Vanasch and Australia's Andrew Charter.
Savita Punia, who was also the joint-vice captain for the Indian women's hockey team at the Tokyo Olympics, was outstanding in guarding India's post. She played an instrumental role in the team finishing fourth. The other nominees in her category were Great Britain's Maddie Hinch and Argentina's Belen Succi.
79 national associations, represented by their respective national captains and coaches, had voted along with a record number of almost 3,00,000 fans.
Belgium’s Alexander Hendrickx and Arthur van Doren were voted second and third-best players respectively, with Vincent Vanasch named second-best goalkeeper and Shane McLeod (NZL) second-best coach.
For the Netherlands, Eva de Goede and Frédérique Matla clinched the respective second and third places in the FIH Player of the Year Award. Alyson Annan (AUS) finished in second spot in the FIH Coach of the Year Award.
Hockey India congratulates winners
Congratulating the award winners, Hockey India President Gyanendro Ningombam said:
"This is a great moment for Indian hockey as all of our Indian nominees for the FIH Stars Awards have been announced winners. After historic performances in Tokyo by both the Indian men's and women's hockey teams, the support from Indian fans from across the globe has been overwhelming...This is a big moment for us and these awards will definitely inspire future generations to take up the sport professionally."
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