Manpreet, Rani in race for Hockey India's Player of the Year Award

Manpreet Singh and Rani Rampal are nominated for the Player of the Year award, while Sreejesh and Savita Punia are in race for the best Goalkeeper's award.

Manpreet Singh (left) and Rani Rampal guided their respective national teams Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualification. (File Photo)

Harmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, captain Manpreet Singh and Surender Kumar would be vying for boasting rights as the best Indian hockey player for the year 2019 and a purse of Rs. 25 lakh at the third Hockey India awards to be held on Sunday.

The nominations for the annual awards were announced on Tuesday. While the men would be competing for the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year, among the women, Deep Grace Ekka, drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur, captain Rani Rampal and goalkeeper Savita Punia have been nominated for the Player of the Year award.

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Interestingly, Manpreet and Deep Grace were also named Sportspersons of the Year (team sports) at The Hindu Group's Sportstar Aces award earlier this year. Manpreet was also named FIH Player of the Year (male). The awards, for excellence in 2019 and overall contribution to the game, have a total prize money worth Rs. 1.30 crores and a trophy in each section.

The Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award carries a cash prize of Rs. 30 lakh, while the Jugraj Singh Upcoming Player of the Year (Men) and Asunta Lakra Upcoming Player of the Year (Women) would get cash prizes of Rs. 10 lakh each. Individual awards in each department – best forward, midfielder, defender and goalkeeper – carry a cash prizes of Rs. 5 lakh each. The biggest of them would be the Lifetime Achievement award, to be announced on the day of the event, carrying a prize purse of Rs. 30 lakh and trophy.

The nominees:   Player of the Year (male): Harmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Manpreet Singh, Surender Kumar Player of the Year (female): Deep Grace Ekka, Gurjit Kaur, Rani Rampal, Savita Punia Upcoming Player of the Year (Under-21 male) : Dilpreet Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Mandeep Mor, Vivek Sagar Prasad Upcoming Player of the Year (Under-21 female): Lalremsiami, Salima Tete, Sharmila Devi Forward of the Year: Lalit Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Navneet Kaur, Rani Rampal Midfielder of the Year: Manpreet Singh, Monika, Neha Goyal, Vivek Sagar Prasad Defender of the Year: Deep Grace Ekka, Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar Goalkeeper of the Year: Krishan Pathak, PR Sreejesh, Rajani Etimarpu, Savita Punia Jhaman Lal Sharma Award for Invaluable Contribution: TBA President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement : TBA Lifetime Achievement Award: TBA