The Hockey India held its fifth annual awards at the national capital on Friday with India men’s team vice-captain Hardik Singh and women’s captain Savita Punia winning the top honours for the year 2022 during a glittering ceremony attended by high-profile dignitaries. The duo won Balbir Singh Senior Award For Player of the Year in their respective categories while taking a cash price of Rs 25 lakh each.
The legendary Gurubux Singh was honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award for 2022.
The awards have been held after a gap of three years owing to covid and administrative issues.
“It’s been a fantastic year, and it feels great to be recognised for my efforts. I believe we had a roller coaster year as a team, and there are players who have done exceptionally well this year as well. I honestly feel that I am accepting this honour on behalf of the entire team,” said Hardik after winning the award.
Savita expressed her gratitude upon winning the award while praising her teammates. “This is a tremendous honour for which I am extremely grateful. We performed admirably as a team, and winning the FIH Women’s Nations Cup was a watershed moment for us. I thank my teammates, coach and support staff for their continuous encouragement and hard work,” she said.
The winners for the year 2021 were also honoured during the ceremony that was also attended by Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Sports, Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Narendra Tomar and Youth Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur.
Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey began the event delivering a welcome note with the past, present and future of both Indian and women hockey present in attendance.
For the year 2021, current India men hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh won the Player of the Year award while Savita was declared women player of the year.
Amit Singh Bakshi, who was part of India’s 1956 Melbourne Olympics gold medal winning team, was given the Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2021. Besides various awards were handed to players across a myriad senior and junior categories.
The Winners of the Hockey India Annual Awards 2022 are:
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