Indian Players’ Dominating Presence at FIH Star Awards

The Indian hockey players, especially the men, are having a dominating presence as far as the FIH Hockey Star Awards are concerned. Since its inception in 1998, these awards are largely dominated by players from the big three – the Netherlands, Australia, and Germany. It was hard to see any Indian player being handed out these awards be it the FIH Player of the Year (Men) or the FIH Player of the Year (Women). Former Netherlands attacking midfielder Stephen Veen was the first recipient of the FIH Men Player of the Year in 1998, while Australia double Olympic gold medallist and current China women’s team coach Alyson Annan was the first recipient of the FIH Women Player of the Year in 1998.

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It was always about players from Netherlands, Australia, and Germany during the period between 1998 and 2007, until Spain had its first-ever recipient in legendary striker Pol Amat in 2008. Belgium, who were nowhere in the awards radar until 2015, bagged the FIH Men Player of the Year award for three consecutive years in 2016, 2017, and 2018 with John-John Dohmen being bestowed the award in 2016, while defender Arthur Van Doren winning it back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. Interestingly, Australia’s Jamie Dwyer is the only player to win the FIH Men Player of the Year award five times (thrice on the trot in 2009, 2010, and 2011), while Netherlands’ Teun de Nooijer have won this award thrice.

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Former captain and midfielder Manpreet Singh became the first Indian player to win the FIH Men Player of the Year award in 2019 – it triggered a bout of Indian players standing tall at the FIH Hockey Star Awards. Indian men’s team captain Harmanpreet Singh won the FIH Men Player of the Year (Men) award for the third time now in 2023-24 besides in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Hardik Singh won this award in 2022-23. It is important to point out that Indian players have captured the FIH Men Player of the Year (Men) since 2019 starting with Manpreet Singh.

As far as the FIH Women Player of the Year award is concerned, out-of-favour fullback and drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur is the only woman player to win this award in 2020-21. Argentina’s Luciana Aymar have won the FIH Women Player of the Year (Women) on a whopping 8 times, while this award has been bestowed on the likes of Australia’s Alyson Annan, and the Dutch trio of Naomi Van As, Maartje Paumen, and Eva de Goede twice each.

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The Indian presence is also there in the FIH Men Goalkeeper of the Year category – a segment that was launched in 2014. PR Sreejesh have won this award three time now in 2023-24, and earlier in 2020-21 and 2021-22 – he has won this most times alongside Belgium’s Vincent Vanasch, who bagged this award for three consecutive years in 2017, 2018, and 2019. India’s Savita Punia has landed the FIH Women Goalkeeper of the Year award three times in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Vivek Prasad is the lone Indian to win the FIH Men Rising Star of the Year in 2019, while the likes of Lalremsiami and Mumtaz Khan have won the FIH Women Rising Star of the Year award in 2019 and 2021-22 respectively.

Clearly, the Indian flavour at the FIH Hockey Star Awards has accelerated over last five-six years.

Most FIH Men Player of the Year Winners

Player	Country	Award Wins
Jamie Dwyer	Australia	5 (2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, & 2011)
Teun de Nooijer	Netherlands	3 (2003, 2005, & 2006)
Harmanpreet Singh	India	3 (2023-24, 2021-22, 2020-21)
Arthur Van Doren	Belgium	2 (2017 & 2018

Most FIH Women Player of the Year Winners

Player	Country	Award Wins
Luciana Aymar	Argentina	8 (2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013,
Alyson Annan	Australia	2 (1998 & 2000)
Naomi Van As	Netherlands	2 (2009 & 2016)
Paumen Maartje	Netherlands	2 (2011 & 2012)
Eva de Goede	Netherlands	2 (2018 & 2019)