Hockey India awards: Hardik, Sukhjeet, Sanjay and Abhishek nominated for top honour

The eighth annual Hockey India awards will be held here on Friday to recognise and reward outstanding performances during the 2025 season.

The nominations were announced on Monday. The men’s team dominated most of the categories except those that had separate sections for men and women, in line with the National team’s performances through the last year.

Hardik Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Sanjay and Abhishek have been nominated for the male Player-of-the-Year while Navneet Kaur, Salima Tete, Lalremsiami and Savita Punia will vie for the honours in the women’s category.

Hardik, Sukhjeet, Sanjay and Navneet have been nominated in multiple categories.

Prince Deep Singh, the goalkeeper who impressed everyone during the Men’s Junior World Cup in December, has been nominated for both the goalkeeper and Upcoming Player-of-the-Year.

The event will also have special recognitions for Outstanding Achievement and Umpire/Umpire Manager-of-the-Year among others. The Asia Cup-winning men’s team and the bronze medallist Junior men’s team will also be felicitated during the function.

The nominees: Player-of-the-Year (men): Hardik Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Sanjay, Abhishek; Player-of-the-Year (women): Navneet Kaur, Salima Tete, Lalremsiami, Savita Punia; Goalkeeper-of-the-Year: Prince Deep Singh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Suraj Karkera; Defender-of-the-Year: Sanjay, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Harmanpreet Singh; Midfielder-of-the-Year: Hardik Singh, Sumit, Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma; Forward-of-the-Year: Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Navneet Kaur, Shilanand Lakra; Upcoming Player-of-the-Year (men): Prince Deep Singh, Manmeet Singh, Anmol Ekka, Arshdeep Singh; Upcoming Player-of-the-Year (women): Sakshi Rana, Jyoti Singh, Sunelita Toppo, Kanika Siwach.