Anjan Bista from football category and Aruna Shahi from volleyball category have been declared the Players of the Year.
In the 'NSJF Pulsar Sports Award 2078' organized by the Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF), Bista and Shahi were declared the best players of the year from men and women category, respectively.
The award was presented to them at a function held in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Anjan helped Nepal reach the finals for the first time in last year's SAFF Championship in the Maldives.
He scored a historic goal against Chinese Taipei in the matches of the World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers.
He scored against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the 13th SAFF Champions Cup. He received a Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle along with the award.
In the same year, Aruna Shahi, the captain of the Nepali national women's volleyball team, won the women's player award.
Under Aruna's captaincy, Nepal won the title of Asian Central Zone Women's Volleyball Championship held in Bangladesh. Aruna received a Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle along with the award.
Similarly, volleyball's Usha Bhandari won the People's Choice award.
An important member of the Nepali National Volleyball Team, Usha was a member of the 13th South Asian Games (SAG) held in Nepal when the Nepali Women's Volleyball Team won silver.
She made her debut in the national team from this tournament. Likewise, Lifetime Achievement Award has been given to Olympian Raghuraj Want.
Along with Lifetime Achievement Award, Want received Rs 50,000 in cash. Footballer Manish Dangi also won the Youth Player award.
The goal he scored against Iraq, the heavyweight football nation of Asia, in his international football debut was excellent. He scored the decisive goal against the host Maldives in the opening match of the SAFF Football Championship.
Olympian para athlete Palesha Govardhan Shrestha has been awarded Para Athlete Award.
Palesha also won two fights at the Tokyo Paralympics in Japan. He is also the first athlete to win two fights in Paralympics.
Palesha won a gold medal in taekwondo at the Asian Youth Para Games. Palesha won the gold medal at the Asia Youth Para Games under 57 kg in Manama, Bahrain.
She is the first Nepali to win a gold medal in the Asian Youth Para. Abdullah Almutairi, the former coach of the national football team, was declared the best coach of the year.
Under Almutairi's coaching, Nepal reached the third round of AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers for the first time.
In the 13th SAFF Championship in Maldives, he was the head coach of the team to make history by reaching the finals for the first time.
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