Manpreet, Lalremsiami, Vivek nominated for 2019 FIH awards

Lausanne, December 6 

Indian men’s hockey captain Manpreet Singh has been nominated for the Player of the Year award by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

Two other Indian players, Vivek Prasad and Lalremsiami, were also nominated for the men’s and women’s FIH Rising Star of the Year Award, respectively.

The 27-year-old Manpreet, a veteran of 242 international caps, led the Indian team to a Tokyo Olympics berth this year. He is the midfield pivot of the Indian team. Under his captaincy, India beat Russia 11-3 on aggregate in Bhubaneswar last month to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

The 19-year-old Prasad, a midfielder, led the Indian team in the Youth Olympics last year where the country won a silver medal. He was also named the best young player at the FIH Series Finals this year. 

Lalremsiami, a forward with the Indian women’s team, was part of the Asian Games silver-winning team. She is also 19 years old.

Australians Eddie Ockenden and Aran Zalewski, Argentina’s Lucas Vila and Belgians Arthur Van Doren and Victor Wegnez were the other five nominees for the prestigious FIH Player of the Year award.

Ockenden, a 32-year-old veteran of 340 matches, and Zalewski led the Australian team in their country’s multi-player captaincy policy. Both were part of the FIH Pro League 2019 gold winning-team. Zalewski was named the best player of the tournament. Vila was a part of the Argentina team that won the gold in 2016 Rio Olympics and 2019 Pan American Games.

 The Belgian duo of Van Doren and Wegnez played major roles in their country’s 2018 World Cup title win and 2019 FIH Pro League runners-up finish.

National associations, players, fans and journalists across the world can vote for the award. The voting process is open until January 17, 2020. The names of the winners will be announced in February 2020. — PTI