By Sachit Subba • Off-Field • Sep 03, 2026 15:23 PM • 58 views
Important moments in Nepali sports often begin quietly before becoming widely known throughout the country. That is what happened on Thursday night at the Blue Pavilion Hall in Kathmandu. At the 23rd Pulsar Sports Awards 2082, the Nepal Sports Journalists Forum awarded boxer Chandra Bahadur Thapa Magar and karateka Arika Gurung the titles of Male and Female Player of the Year, respectively.
Thapa Magar won the men's main award after his historic bronze medal at the IBA Men's World Boxing Championship in Dubai; he is the first and only Nepali boxer to have obtained a world medal. He defeated a strong field that included cricketer Dipendra Singh Airee, athlete Som Bahadur Kumal, karateka Pradip Baijali Magar, and golfer Sadbhav Acharya. Agrwith Awal, Chairman of the Golchhbrand-new, presented the award, which comes with a Pulsar motorcycle.
In the women's section, Gurung strengthened her dominance by winning the Female Player of the Year award for the third year in a row. Her recent international performances left voters little choice. She secured a bronze medal at the Karate 1 Premier League in Morocco, won silver at the WKF events in Turkey and China, and took gold at the WKF Series A in Malaysia and at the Thailand Open. She beat footballer Sabitra Bhandari, athlete Santoshi Shrestha, and the karate practitioners Sanumaya Thing and Sabina Shrestha.
Karate won all of the major technical events; Manisha Kumari Bohara was awarded Youth Player of the Year. Bohara secured two gold medals at the 9th South Asian Karate Championship in Sri Lanka and a bronze medal at the Asian Under 21 Championship in China. Kushal Shrestha, who received the Coach of the Year award for the second time, was responsible for the recent international successes of both Gurung and Bohara.
Volleyball player Mina Sunar won the People's Choice Award, securing 29.4 per cent of the total votes from the public and officials. She beat mixed martial artist Rabindra Dhant, who had 24.53 per cent, and Sanumaya Thing, who came third with 18.48 per cent. All five winners in the main category received Pulsar motorcycles.
In addition to the main categories, the NSJF awarded 100,000 rupees to several important sportspeople. Sushma Tamang, a blind cricketer who competes in the B1 category, was awarded the Para Athlete Honour. She won the Player of the Series title at the first Blind Women's T20 World Cup, in which Nepal came in second place. Dhruba Bikram Malla received the Special Award for running the Balaju Karate Do Academy for many decades; since 2048 BS, he has produced international medallists such as Bimala Tamang and ultra-marathoner Mira Rai, always training disadvantaged young people for free.
Veteran badminton player Kumar Mohan Bahadur Shahi, 83, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. He established his reputation in 1972 when he beat China's top player Lee and is still playing nowadays. The NSJF also awarded the Asian Sports Journalist Award to the Indian journalist Saba Nayakan for his long career with major Indian dailies such as The Hindu and The Indian Express. Niranjan Rajbanshi, treasurer of the AIPS Asia, accepted the award on Saba Nayakan's behalf.
This year, as combat sports have gained a major advantage over cricket's traditional dominance, football now faces a serious structural challenge at the national level.
