Lausanne, October 6
India swept the International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) annual awards today, claiming all the top honours based on a voting system which was lambasted as a “failure” by men’s Olympics champions Belgium prompting the FIH to say that it would try to figure why some associations did not cast their ballot.
Harmanpreet Singh won the men’s ‘Player of the Year’ award and Gurjit Kaur was recognised as the best player in the women’s section. Veteran PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia won the best goalkeeper awards in the men’s and women’s section, while young striker Sharmila Devi (women) and Vivek Sagar Prasad (men) were adjudged best rising stars.
The drag-flick duo of Harmanpreet and Gurjit were the top-scorers in their respective team’s stellar run at the Games.
Men’s team coach Graham Reid and former women’s coach Sjoerd Marijne were also voted the best.
Belgium ‘disappointed’
Hockey Belgium reacted sharply to the announcement of the winners and questioned the process as none of their Tokyo Games champions managed to win an award.
Votes from national associations — represented by their respective national captains and coaches — accounted for 50 per cent of the overall result, while fans and players (25 per cent) as well as media (25 per cent) made the other half of the votes.
It is to be noted that only 19 associations from the 42-strong European bloc cast their votes, compared to 29 out of 33 in Asia. — PTI
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