NEW DELHI: National men’s hockey team goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, young striker Akashdeep Singh and woman player Rani Rampal missed out on the FIH 2014 International Players of the Year awards which was announced on Thursday.
Sreejesh was one of the five shortlisted for the Men’s International Goalkeeper of the Year award but Dutchman Jaap Stockmann ran away with the honour. The other three in the running were England’s George Pinner, Australia’s Andrew Charter Argentina’s Juan Vivaldi.
Akashdeep and Rani were among those nominated for the International Male and Female Rising Stars of the Year but they lost out in the race.
Argentina’s Gonzalo Peillat was named International Male Rising Star of the Year while compatriot Florencia Habif scooped the award in the female category.
FIH 2014 Men’s International Player of the Year award went to Mark Knowles of Australia while Dutch superstar Ellen Hoog was declared the Women’s International Player of the Year for 2014.
Joyce Sombroek of the Netherlands got the FIH 2014 Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award, FIH said in a release.
The Awards comprised six categories in the search for the very best players in the world during 2014. A shortlist was compiled for each category by an expert panel of hockey professionals before voting by fans, players and other stakeholders.