2 Indians for FIH Player of the Year awards

Two Indians have been nominated for the International Hockey Federation's (FIH) Player of the Year awards 2001. They are Sanggai Chanu and Mamta Kharab, both members of the women's hockey team.

A new category has been added to the awards for 2001, the Young Player of the Year, which will recognise exceptional talent in the under-21 age group.

Chanu and Kharab, both members of India's under-21 team, had turned in imprresive performances while representing the country in the women's World Cup qualifier, held in Amiens and Abbeville in France, last September. Chanu was adjudged the 'Young Player of the Tournament'. The coaches and media were unanimous in their vote that skillful Indian forward was the best of the young girls on view during the 14-day tournament.

However, there was disappointment for India as none of its male players could find a place in the men's nominations for 2001.

Following are the nominations.

Men's:
Young Player of the Year / Player of the Year
Ryan Archibald (New Zealand), Mario Almada (Spain), Rob Derikx (the Natherlands), Mike Cullen (South Africa), Laurence Docherty (Scotland), Florian Kunz (Germany), Juan Garreta (Argentina), Jorge Lombi (Argentina), Kashif Jawwad (Pakistan), Teun de Nooijer (the Netherlands), Tibor Weissenborn (Germany).

Women's
Young Player of the Year / Player of the Year
Sanggai Chanu (India), Luciana Aymar (Argentina), Kirsten de Groot (the Netherlands), Nikki Hudson (Australia), Mamta Khars (India), Sashimi Iwao (Japan), Janneke Schopman (the Netherlands), Tetyana Kobzenko (Ukraine), Angie Skirving (Australia), Cecilia Rognoni (Argentina), Kim Yun Mi (Korea), Marina Tchegourdaeva (Russia).

An international panel of judges will select one winner from each category. They will look at the overall skill level of the players, their ability to lead a team, the way they present themselves to the public as ambassadors of the game as well as their potential to help project themselves as role models.

The Player of the Year Awards were launched in 1998. Previous winners were Alyson Annan of Australia (1998, 2000), Stephan Veen (the Netherlands) (1998, 2000), Natascha Keller (Germany) (1999) and Jay Stacy (Australia) (1999).

The FIH Players of the Year 2001 will be announced at the 10th men's World Cup, to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from February 24 to March 9 2002.