Ace striker Hardik Singh and Salima Tete were honoured with Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr award for player of the year 2023 awards in Men and Women’s categories respectively at a star studded function here on Sunday .Both received cheque of Rs 25 Lakh and a trophy each.
Former Olympian Ashok Kumar received the Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award with a cheque of Rs 30 lakh and a trophy.
This year, at the Hockey India 6th Annual Awards 2023, the total prize pool was an unprecedented amount of INR 7.56 crores.
The ceremony started with the Milestone Awards 2023 with Vivek Sagar Prasad, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Udita, Salima Tete, and Gurjant Singh winning a cash prize of Rs 1 Lakh and a trophy each for completing 100 International Caps.
Nikki Pradhan, Amit Rohidas, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, and Neha were also presented with Rs 1.5 Lakh and a trophy each for completing 150 International Caps.
Hockey Team captain Harmanpreet Singh was awarded Rs 2 Lakh and a trophy for completing 200 International Caps, while Women’s Team goalkeeper Savita was presented with Rs 2.5 Lakh along with a trophy for earning 250th International Cap.
Ace goalkeeper PR Sreejesh was presented with Rs 3 Lakh along with a trophy for earning his 300th International Caps .
Last year, Vandana Katariya became the first Indian Women’s Hockey Team player to earn her 300th International Cap and was awarded Rs 3 Lakh along with a trophy.
The final milestone award of Rs 3.5 Lakh and a trophy was presented to Manpreet Singh for completing 350 International matches .
In the second category of Individual Achievement Awards, Deepika, Mohith H S, Annu, Anjali Barwa, Maninder Singh, Deepika Soreng, Mandeep Singh, Salima Tete, Sangita Kumari, Harmanpreet Singh, were awarded a cash prize of Rs 1 Lakh and a trophy for their spectacular individual performances in various tournaments.
Savita, who was awarded FIH Goalkeeper of the Year at the Star Awards 2023, was presented with a prize of Rs 5 Lakhs, while Hardik Singh, who was awarded FIH Player of the Year at the Star Awards 2023, was presented a cash prize of Rs 10 Lakhs.
The 2016 Gold Medal Winning Junior World Cup team was felicitated, with each player earning a cash prize of Rs 5 Lakh along with a trophy.
The Gold Medal Winning Junior Men’s Asia Cup Salalah, Oman and the Gold Medal Winning Women’s Asia Cup Kakamigahara, Japan were also honoured, with each player earning a cash prize of Rs 2 Lakh and all the members of the support staff earning a cash prize of Rs 1 Lakh each.
The Gold Medal Winning Men’s and women’s Teams for Hockey 5s Asia Cup Salalah were felicitated at the with each player earning a cash prize of Rs 2 Lakh and all the members of the support staff earning a cash prize of Rs 1 Lakh each.
The Gold medal Winning Men’s Team of Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai , and the Gold Medal Winning Women’s team of Jharkhand Asian Champions Trophy Ranchi were also felicitated with Rs 3 Lakhs for each player and Rsg 1.5 Lakh for all members of the support staff each.
The I Men’s Hockey Team was also honoured for their Gold medal winning performance at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, China, with a cash prize of Rs 5 Lakh for each player and Rs 2.5 Lakh for each member of the support staff.
The Women’s Team that won the Bronze medal in the tournament were awarded Rs 3 Lakh for each player and Rs 1.5 Lakh for each member of the support.
The Silver-medal winning Women’s Team of Hockey 5s World Cup 2024 Muscat Oman, were presented with Rs 3 Lakh for each player and Rs 1.5 Lakh for
Hockey Haryana won the award for being the Best Member Unit of the Year Award earning a prize of Rs .5 Lakh.
Hockey India President Award for Umpire/Umpires Manager of the Year 2023 was presented to G Harsha Vardan, with a prize of Rd 2.5 Lakhs.
Award for Technical Official of the Year 2023 of Rs 2.5 Lakh was presented to Sonia Bathla.
Award for Outstanding Achievement of Rs 5 Lakh was presented to SAIL Hockey Academy, Rourkela. Jaman Lal Sharma Award for Invaluable Contribution 2023 was presented to Dr Bibhu Kalyan Nayak, and he was presented with a cheque of INR 5 Lakh along with a trophy.
The award ceremony saw PR Sreejesh winning the prestigious Hockey India Baljit Singh Award for Goalkeeper of the Year, earning a cash prize of INR 5 Lakh along with a trophy.
For his consistent performances throughout the year
Harmanpreet Singh won the Pargat Singh Award for Defender of the Year, earning himself a cash prize of Rs 5 Lakh along with a trophy.
Ajit Pal Singh Award for Midfielder of the Year was won by Hardik Singh, while Abhishek won the prestigious Hockey India Dhanraj Pillay Award for Forward of the Year, both earning themselves Rs 5 Lakh and a trophy .
Youngster Deepika Soreng won the Asunta Lakra Award for Upcoming Player of the Year (Women – Under 21) earning a cash prize of Rs 10 Lakh and a trophy. Araijeet Singh Hundal was named the Jugraj Singh Award for Upcoming Player of the Year (Men – Under 21), winning a cash prize of Rs 10 Lakh and a trophy.