India captain Harmanpreet Singh was on Tuesday nominated for the player of the year award by the FIH while the legendary PR Sreejesh will be in contention for goalkeeper of the year honour.
The International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) announced the shortlisted candidates.
Both Harmanpreet and Sreejesh played vital roles in India’s splendid campaign in the Paris Olympics where the team claimed a bronze medal.
Skipper Harmanpreet led from the front with 10 goals - most for any player in the tournament.
Harmanpreet will compete with Thierry Brinkman (Netherlands), Joep de Mol (Netherlands), Hannes Müller (Germany), and Zach Wallace (England) for the award.
Playing in his last tournament for India, the venerable Sreejesh put forth resolute display of defence throughout the campaign, especially against the Great Britain when the team was reduced to 10 men in the second quarter of the quarterfinal.
India beat Great Britain 4-2 in penalty shootout to reach the semifinal and later on defeated Spain 2-1 to win the bronze medal contest.
Sreejesh has competition from Pirmin Blaak (Netherlands), Luis Calzado (Spain), Jean-Paul Danneberg (GER), and Tomas Santiago (Argentina).
“The list of nominees was established by an Expert Panel composed of players, coaches and officials selected by each of their Continental Federations,” the FIH said on its website.
“The expert panel was provided access to match data from all international matches held in 2024, including Test matches, the FIH hockey Pro League, FIH Hockey Nations Cups, FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers and the Olympic Games Paris 2024 before establishing the final list of nominees.”
The voting process will remain open till October 11 for national associations (represented by their respective national teams’ captains and coaches), fans, players, coaches, officials and media.
“The votes of the Expert Panel count for 40 per cent of the overall result. Those from National Associations count for a further 20 per cent. The fans and other players (20 per cent) as well as the media (20 per cent) will make the remaining 40 per cent,” the FIH added.
The expert panel consists of Janne Muller-Wieland (Germany) and Simon Mason (England) from Europe, Tahir Zaman (Pakistan) and Ms Deepika (India) from Asia, Soledad Iparraguirre (Argentina) and Craig Parnham (USA) from Pan America, Sarah Bennett (Zimbabwe) and Ahmed Youssef (Egypt) from Africa and Amber Church (New Zealand) and Adam Webster (Australia) from Oceania.
Nominees for FIH Hockey Stars Awards: Women: Gu Bingfeng (China), Yibbi Jansen (Netherlands), Nike Lorenz (Germany), Stephanie Vanden Borre (Belgium), Xan de Waard (Netherlands). Men: Thierry Brinkman (Netherlands), Joep de Mol (Netherlands), Hannes Müller (Germany), Harmanpreet Singh (India), Zach Wallace (England).
Goalkeeper of the Year Award: Women: Cristina Cosentino (Argentina), Aisling D’Hooghe (Belgium), Nathalie Kubalski (Germany), Anne Veenendaal (Netherlands), Ye Jiao (China). Men: Pirmin Blaak (Netherlands), Luis Calzado (Spain), Jean-Paul Danneberg (GER), Tomas Santiago (Argentina), PR Sreejesh (India).
Rising Star of the Year Award: Women: Claire Colwill (Australia), Zoe Díaz (Argentina), Tan Jinzhuang (China), Emily White (Belgium), Linnea Weidemann (Germany). Men: Bautista Capurro (Argentina), Bruno Font (Spain), Sufyan Khan (Pakistan), Michel Struthoff (Germany), Arno Van Dessel (Belgium).
