Top sports honour for Birendra Lakra

Bhubaneswar: The Sports and Youth Affairs department has announced the prestigious Biju Patnaik Sports Award for this year and named international hockey star Birendra Lakra as the ‘Outstanding Player of the Year’.

According to sources, Lakra was selected for the award due to his remarkable performance at Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Bringing glory to the country as well as the State, the Indian defender bagged gold and silver medals at the 2014 events.

Similarly, football coach Nanda Kishore Patnaik will be felicitated with ‘Best Coach Award’ for his noteworthy efforts in creating football sensations like Sradhanjali Samantaray and Ranjita Mohanty.

Odisha Basketball Association secretary Ashok Sahoo will be conferred with ‘Life Time Achievement Award’ for his contribution to the field of sports. At the same time, senior journalist Satish Sharma has been named for the ‘Best Sports Journalist Award’.

The four would be bestowed upon the awards in a glittering ceremony later this year, the sources added.