India's hockey players and support staff reached the shortlist for all categories in the International Hockey Federation's Player of the Year honours after a dream run at the Tokyo Olympics.
After a strong showing in the Tokyo Olympics, India's hockey squad and support personnel were named to the shortlist for the International Hockey Federation (FIH) annual awards in all categories.
Harmanpreet Singh, a drag-flicker for the Indian men's hockey team, and Gurjit Kaur, his female counterpart, were nominated for the FIH Player of the Year awards on Monday.
P R Sreejesh, a veteran India goalkeeper, was one of three men's goalkeepers shortlisted, while Savita Punia was one of three women's goalkeepers shortlisted.
Graham Reid, the head coach of the Indian men's team, and Sjoerd Marijne, the head coach of the Indian women's team, were among three nominees for the FIH Coach of the Year award for men and women.
Harmanrpeet and Gurjit at Tokyo 2020
Harmanpreet had a total of six goals with his drag-flick in eight games to assist the Indian men's team win a historic bronze, the country's first Olympic medal in 41 years.
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Gurjit was also a key member of the Indian women's team, who advanced to the semifinals for the first time before falling in the bronze medal play-off to Great Britain.
In India's 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Australia, the 25-year-old from Punjab scored the game-winning goal from the penalty corner.
Agustina Albertarrio and Agustina Gorzelany of Argentina, as well as Eva de Goede, Frederique Matla, and Maria Verschoor of the Netherlands, were also nominated for the FIH Player of the Year award for women.
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Apart from Harmanpreet, Arthur van Doren and Alexander Hendrickx of gold medalists Belgium and Jake Whetton, Aran Zalewski, and Tim Brand of silver medalists Australia were nominated for the FIH Player of the Year award for men.
Vincent Vanasch of Belgium and Andrew Charter of Australia were also nominated for the Goalkeeper of the Year Award for Men, in addition to Sreejesh.
Maddie Hinch of the United Kingdom and Belen Succi of Argentina, as well as Savita, were nominated for the Goalkeeper of the Year Award among women.
Vivek Prasad, Sharmila Devi both in the race of Rising Star award
In the women's category, India's Sharmila Devi was nominated with Fiona Crackles (Great Britain) and Valentina Raposo (Argentina), while Vivek Prasad was nominated alongside Mustaphaa Cassiem (South Africa) and Sean Findlay (New Zealand) in the men's category.
For their services as head coaches of their respective women's teams, Reid was nominated alongside Shane McLeod (Belgium team) and Colin Batch (Australia), while Sjoerd Marijne was shotlisted alongside Alyson Annan (Netherlands team) and Mark Hager (Great Britain team).
Due to the influence of the COVID-19 global health epidemic on the international calendar, there will be no Hockey Stars Honors in 2020, thus this year's awards will cover the period from January 2020 to the completion of the Tokyo Olympics.