Salima Tete receiving the Balbir Singh Sr. Award for Player of The Year for girls from Harbinder Singh.
| Photo Credit: X@TheHockeyIndia
Hardik Singh and Salima Tete had been named the Player of the Year for 2023 amongst males and girls respectively at the sixth annual Hockey India awards right here on Sunday at the same time as the federation introduced the revival of Hockey India League (HIL) in January 2025.
With a complete prize pool of ₹7.56 crores, the awards noticed groups and people felicitated for their achievements in the previous yr. Interestingly, even the 2016 Junior World Cup profitable males’s group was honoured at the occasion, eight years since the triumph.
The HIL, final held in 2017, shall be a five-week competitors with eight males’s and six girls’s groups, with auctions for the similar more likely to be held after the Paris Olympics.
HI secretary basic Bhola Nath Singh confirmed the window and mentioned there shall be no over-lapping of franchise possession throughout the genders with 14 homeowners finalised.
Hardik, who was additionally the FIH Player of the Year, was offered the Balbir Singh Sr. Trophy and a money prize of ₹25 lakhs.
“There is increased responsibility when you get such individual awards and recognition but I feel that when this happens to anyone, he should also know and realise that the team trusts him so much more. No pressure, no diamonds. It is our profession and we sacrifice a lot and work 300 days in camps and tournaments for only this,” Hardik mentioned.
Hardik receiving the Balbir Singh Sr. Award for Player of The Year for males from Zafar Iqbal.
| Photo Credit:
X@TheHockeyIndia
“I thank my teammates, coaches and the support staff for showcasing their faith in me. This award will further motivate me to continue to be better each day,” Salima, who impressed at the current Asian Champions Trophy, mentioned.
The Indian groups profitable the Junior Asia Cups and the males’s and girls’s Asian Champions Trophy had been additionally rewarded together with the males’s Asian Games profitable facet.
The principal winners:
₹5 lakhs every: P.R. Sreejesh (Goalkeeper of the Year); Harmanpreet Singh (Defender of the Year); Hardik Singh (Midfielder of the Year); Abhishek (Forward of the Year).
₹10 lakhs every: Deepika Soreng (Women’s U-21 Player of the Year); Araijeet Singh Hundal (Men’s U-21 Player of the Year).
₹25 lakhs every: Salima Tete (Player of The Year, Women); Hardik Singh (Player of The Year, Men).
₹30 lakhs: Ashok Kumar (Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award).
