Bhopal: Olympic bronze medallist from Madhya Pradesh Vivek Sagar Prasad has received the title of Men’s Rising Star of the Year at Hockey Stars Awards held virtually by International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Wednesday. The FIH announced it through tweet.
The Indian players swept the FIH Awards this year after giving a podium finish at Tokyo Olympics. The Indian hockey players ruled the Hockey Stars Awards bagging the titles of Player of the Year men’s and women’s (Harmanpreet Singh and Gurjit Kaur), Goalkeeper of the Year men’s and women’s (Sreejesh PR and Savita Punia), Coach of the Year men’s and women’s (Graham Reid and Sjoerd Marijne) and Rising Star of the Year men’s and women’s (Vivek Sagar Prasad and Sharmila Devi).
Elated on being awarded with the title, Vivek said, “Awards like these instill confidence in us to improve our game and to make the nation more proud. I feel so honoured on getting the title. This award has come as a motivation to do better for the team. Now, our target is gold at upcoming Olympics.”
“My immediate target, right now, is the World Championship, for which we are preparing at SAI Academy in Bengaluru. The entire junior team is trying its best. We are confident of our game,” he added.
