They were each offered with trophy and shawl. The chief guest of the program, Constituent Assembly Chairman Subash Chandra Nembang presented them with their prizes.
The NNIPA also felicitated the players selected for the 11 South Asian Games (SAG) offering them shawl and wished them success in the SAG scheduled to be held from January 29 to February 9.
The players to get the NNIPA Player of the Year award were Keshari Chaudhary (athletics), Prem Bahadur Pun (archery), Bipendra Maharjan (basketball), Bikash Shrestha (badminton), Dinesh Shrestha (boxing), Manish Hamal (chess), Mehboob Alam (cricket), Sajan Shrestha (cycling), Anil Gurung (football), Birendra Oli (full contact karate), Aman Shrestha (gymnastics), Rupak Acharya (golf) and Bivek KC (handball).
The other players to receive the Player of the Year award were Shanti Tamang (ITF taekwondo), Sunita Maharjan (judo), Subhadra Shrestha (karate do), Rajendra Kumar Singh (kho-kho), Dambar Bahadur Baduwal (kabaddi), Preeti Rijal (tennis), Karishma Karki (swimming), Suraj Kumar Mulmi (snooker), Bhawana Sunwar (squash), Bijay Karki (shooting), Ashish Maharjan (taekwondo), Sonu Gupta (table tennis), Im Bahadur Magar (volleyball), Bhuwan Shrestha (wushu), Muhkhtar Alam (wrestling) and Kamal Bahadur Adhikari (weightlifting).
Speaking on the occasion, CA Chairman Subash Nembang said that there had not been adequate investment in the sports sector. He urged all the players to concentrate on the SAG and try to perform their best. He also promised to draw attention of parliamentarians toward the much-neglected sports sector.
CA member Gagan Thapa said that sports was the only means of uniting people at a time when the country was on the verge of disintegration. He also shared his and NNIPA´s bitter experience of not being able to meet Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. “Sports should not only be taken as a pastime, it has been a means of earning national pride in the international arena,” Gagan said.
Likewise, National Sports Council Vice-chairman Pitambar Timilsina, Member Secretary Hari Babu Chaudhary, CA member Raj Kaji Maharjan, Nepal Olympic Committee President Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, among others, also expressed their views.
Comedian Deepak Raj Giri after wishing success to the players performed an act.
Meanwhile, the NNIPA raised over Rs 100,000 for taekwondo player Ashok Khadka at the function from various associations, players and personalities. Ashok was seriously injured during an international taekwondo championship held in Lucknow, India about ten months back. He has undergone ten surgeries of his leg since, but is yet to recover.
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