Bagmati Province Honors Sports Excellence with Awards and Cash Prizes

Hetauda – The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Bagmati Province has honored 13 distinguished athletes, coaches, and journalists across 8 categories in a special award ceremony held at Huprachaur, Hetauda-4. The awards were presented in recognition of their exceptional contributions to Nepali sports and for bringing pride to the nation.

Top Athlete of the Year Awards

• Erika Gurung (Karate) and Rajan Bal (Kho-Kho) were awarded as the Best Female and Male Athletes of the Year respectively. Each received a cash prize of NPR 100,000.
  • Erika won a silver medal at the 20th Senior AKF Championship and made history by winning a silver medal in karate at the 19th Asian Games — the first ever for Nepal in the discipline.
  • Over the past two years, she has secured 5 gold and 4 silver medals in international competitions.
  • Rajan was a key player in Nepal’s kho-kho team that secured second place in the World Cup. He has also earned medals in the 13th South Asian Games and multiple National Sports meets.

Lifetime Achievement Awards

• Baikuntha Manandhar and Jit Bahadur KC were presented with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, each receiving NPR 100,000.
  • Baikuntha is a legendary marathoner who won gold in the first three editions of the South Asian Games. His 2:15:03 marathon record, set in 1987, stood unbroken for 38 years. He is the only Nepali to represent the country in four consecutive Olympic Games (1976–1988).
  • Jit Bahadur KC is Nepal’s first international medalist in athletics, winning a bronze in the marathon at the 1973 Asian Athletics Championship in the Philippines — running barefoot.

Bagmati Pride Award

• Sangina Baidya (Taekwondo) received the Bagmati Shan Award for her groundbreaking role in Nepali sports.
  • She was the first Nepali athlete to qualify for the Olympics (Athens 2004) through performance rather than a wildcard.
  • She has won multiple medals, including bronze in the Asian Championship and gold and bronze in different editions of the South Asian Games.

Special Awards

• Best Coach Award: Kavi Raj Negi (Taekwondo – Palesha Govardhan’s coach)
• Best Sports Journalist Award: Senior journalist Shyam Chitrakar
• Most Popular Athletes: Ayush Ghalan (Football), Salina Shrestha (Volleyball), and Santoshi Shrestha (Athletics)

Additional Honors

• Best Para-Taekwondo Player: Palesha Govardhan
• Young Athlete Award: Sadbhav Acharya (Golf)
• Best District Sports Development Committee Chairperson: Binod Maharjan (Lalitpur)

Each of the special awardees received NPR 50,000 as a token of appreciation for their outstanding dedication to Nepali sports.

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