look news india
New Delhi, March 30 (Hindustan Reporter) The stage is set for the much-awaited sixth edition of the Hockey India Annual Awards, which is set to take place in New Delhi on Sunday. This year's awards ceremony has an unprecedented total prize money of Rs 7.56 crore. A total of 32 players have been shortlisted for these annual awards in eight categories. These nominees will be honored for their outstanding contributions to Indian hockey throughout the 2023 calendar year.
The prestigious award ceremony was attended by Olympians Raghbir Lal, A.S. Bakshi, Harbinder Singh, Ashok Diwan, Zafar Iqbal, Ajit Pal Singh, Romeo James, Jagbir Singh, M.P. Hockey legends including Singh, and Vineet Kumar will be in attendance. ,
Hockey India President Dr Dilip Tirkey, General Secretary Bhola Nath Singh and Treasurer Shekhar J Manoharan will be present along with members of the Hockey India Executive Board. Other notable attendees included R Vinil Krishna, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary DSYS, Odisha, Dr Atulya Mishra, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, and Meghnath Reddy, IAS, Member Secretary SDAT, Tamil Nadu.
The nominees also include Indian forward Abhishek, who has left a mark in the year 2023 with his stellar performances. For his consistent performances, Abhishek has been nominated in two categories – Hockey India Dhanraj Pillay Award for Forward of the Year 2023 and Hockey India Balbir Singh Senior Award for Player of the Year 2023.
“It is a great honor for me to be nominated in two categories this year,” Abhishek was quoted as saying by Hockey India. I would like to thank the support staff at Hockey India, our coaches and my teammates who have constantly supported me and always provided advice whenever I needed it. Due to their constant support, I gained confidence and was able to perform independently.”
Abhishek, who scored three goals in six matches at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Hockey World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, continued his form at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where he scored 9 goals in 7 matches, helping his team win the gold medal. He was also named Player of the Match after India's thrilling 2 – 2 (8 – 7 shoot-out) win over Spain in the FIH Men's Hockey Pro League 2023/24 in Rourkela last month.
Abhishek said, “It was a good year for me. Every time I step out on the field wearing the Indian jersey, my aim is to ensure that I give my best performance to help my team get the desired result. More than individual achievements, it is about making sure that the team performs well and that they are able to find me in the desired position at the right time, and that is what I worked on this year. “I hope we continue to improve as we move forward.”
With the Paris Olympics around the corner, the Indian men's hockey team will tour Australia to compete in a five-match Test series. On the importance of the tour, Abhishek said that the upcoming series is an opportunity for the Indian team to work on key areas before the Olympics.
“This is an important year for everyone because the Paris Olympics are coming up,” he said. Our team is focused on improving ourselves ahead of major competitions and hence, we are all really looking forward to the Australia tour to really test ourselves and our strategies.”