Leg spin prodigy Sandeep Lamichhane and golfer Pratima Sherpa as well as table tennis player Santoo Shrestha were the teen trio among the five nominees unveiled on Wednesday by Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) for the People’s Choice Award of the Pulsar Sports Award scheduled for May 18.

The People’s Choice Award is one of the eight categories of the Sports Award that is decided through SMS voting, facebook likes and for the first time will also carry the votes from sports journalists and coaches from 35 sports disciplines. The 17-year old Lamichhane had taken the world cricket by storm after becoming the first ever Nepali to be bought by Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Daredevils for this season. He capped a memorable Nepali calendar year 2074 BS picking up 84 wickets overall, including 24 in the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers for Asia Region, which is so far the best performance from any Nepali bowler at any level in a single tournament. 

Sherpa, 18-year old, defied all odds to become Nepal’s No 1 lady golfer and her impoverished background guided her to the United States of America where she grabbed global headlines. She is the only Nepali girl to have played the Surya Nepal Golf Tour qualifier. Sherpa also claimed the Faldo Series Nepal and competed in the Faldo Series Grand Asia Final. 

Shrestha is the rising star of Nepali table tennis who dominated the 39th National Table Tennis Championships with triple gold including men’s singles, doubles and team event. On his way to establishing himself as a player to reckon with, Shrestha has managed to upstage established names in the country’s sports discipline.

National football team goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong and spiker Man Bahadur Shrestha are the two other nominees in the list. Chemjong was the first choice for seven matches while playing with Minerva Punjab in the Indian top-tier football I-league where he had made eight appearances. Minerva went on to win the I-league title. 

Chemjong also featured in Maldivian top-tier league for TC Sports that finished runners up in the League, FA Cup and President’s Cup. Man Bahadur is the most talked name in Nepali men’s volleyball having earned a name for himself playing in three different friendlies against Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Macau. He was instrumental in handing Tribhuvan Army Club five out of six domestic titles. 

NSJF, meanwhile, on Wednesday signed agreement with THT Live 37722 as its voting partners. While the SMS will carry 50 percent weightage, the voting from journalists and sports coaches will carry 25 percent of weightage each.

NSJF honours sportsperson of the previous Nepali calendar year in eight different categories that includes player of the year male, female, youth, para-athlete and coach apart from providing recognition to sports personalities for their contribution through special and lifetime achievement award. 

The nominees for the male, female, youth and coach will be unveiled in due course, while para-athlete, special and lifetime achievement winners will be revealed directly during the award gala.