In March 2025, Indian Men’s hockey team captain, Harmanpreet Singh was honoured with the Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr. Award for Player of the Year 2024 in the men’s category, at the Hockey India 7th Annual Awards held at Le Meridien, Connaught Palace in New Delhi, Delhi. This marked his 2nd Hockey India Player of the Year award (2021).
- While, former hockey women’s team goalkeeper, Savita Punia was honoured with the Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr. Award for Player of the Year 2024 in the women’s category. This marked her 3rd Hockey India Player of the Year award (2022 and 2023). The recipients of Balbir Singh Sr. Award received a monetary prize of Rs 25 lakh.
- The awards ceremony celebrated the standout achievement of 2024 India’s bronze medal victory at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The members of the Indian Men’s Hockey Team were presented with scarves and a cash prize of Rs. 15 lakh each. Alternate players were honored with Rs.5 lakh each, while the support staff received Rs.7.5 lakh each.
Hockey India Annual Awards 2024:
i.The Hockey India Annual Awards was introduced in 2014 to recognise the hockey players for promoting field hockey as a sport on the national and international platform.
- The 7th edition of the Hockey India Annual Awards(2024) was organised to commemorate 100 years of Indian hockey and to celebrate India’s historic World Cup triumph in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
ii.The event was attended by former Union Minister, Kiren Rijiju, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS); DilipTirkey, President of Hockey India (HI) and Bhola Nath Singh, Secretary General of HI, among others.
About Harmanpreet Singh:
i.Harmanpreet Singh, one of the top drag-flickers in modern hockey led the Indian hockey team to its 2nd consecutive bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games held in Paris, France.
- He was also part of the Indian hockey team that won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
ii.In January 2025, he was honoured with India’s most prestigious sports award, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024.
iii.He was named International Hockey Federation (FIH)Men ’s Player of the Year Award for 2024 in November 2024.
iv.He also won the Player of the Tournament award at the Men’s Asian Champions Trophy held in People’s Republic of China.
About Savita Punia:
i.In February 2025, Savita Punia, who is also known as the ‘Great Wall of Indian Hockey’ became the 2nd Indian women hockey player after Vandana Katariya to play 300 matches for the country.
ii.She played a pivotal role in the Indian women’s hockey team that narrowly missed out a bronze medal at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
iii.She led the Indian hockey team to a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) held in Birmingham, the United Kingdom (UK) and won the FIH Nations Cup title in 2022.
iv.She has been honoured with various national sports awards like: Arjuna Award (2018); FIH Goalkeeper of the Year Award (2020-21; 2021-22; and 2022-23).
Winners of Hockey India Annual Awards 2024:
| Name of the Award | Winner | Cash Prize |
|---|---|---|
| Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award | 1975 Men’s World Cup-winning team | Rs 50 lakh |
| Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr. Award for the Player of the Year (Men) | Harmanpreet Singh | Rs 25 lakh |
| Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr. Award for the Player of the Year (Women) | Savita Punia | Rs 25 lakh |
| Hockey India Jugraj Singh Award for Upcoming Men’s U-21 Player of the Year | Araijeet Singh Hundal | Rs 10 lakh |
| Hockey India Asunta Lakra Award for Upcoming Women’s U-21 Player of the Year | Deepika | Rs 10 lakh |
| Baljit Singh Award for Goalkeeper of the Year | Savita Punia | Rs 5 lakh |
| Hockey India Pargat Singh Award for Defender of the Year | Amit Rohidas | Rs 5 lakh |
| Hockey India Dhanraj Pillay Award for Forward of the Year | Abhishek Nain | Rs 5 lakh |
| Hockey India Ajit Pal Singh Award for Midfielder of the Year | Hardik Singh | Rs 5 lakh |
| Hockey India President Award for Umpire/Umpires Manager of the Year | Ripudaman Sharma | Rs 2.5 lakh |
| Hockey India President Award for Technical Official of the Year | Anil Kumar P K | Rs 2.5 lakh |
Key Highlights:
i.This year Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed upon winning team of 1975 Men’s World Cup, along with monetary prize of Rs 50 lakh.
- The Indian Men’s Hockey team under the captaincy of Ajit Pal Singh defeated Pakistan’s team in the finals of Hockey World Cup held in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
ii.8 Indian states: Haryana, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Punjab, among others, were honoured for their crucial role in promoting hockey and their exceptional performances at the 14th Hockey India National Championships 2024. Each state received a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh in recognition of their achievements.
- Meanwhile, the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu(TN) was awarded Best Member Unit of the Year 2024 for its monumental efforts in revolutionising grassroots hockey through the TN School Hockey League, India’s first-ever statewide school hockey league.
iii.Beighton Cup Tournament received the Hockey India President Award for Oustanding Achievement in 2024, with cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.
iv.Prasar Bharati, the official broadcaster of the Hero Hockey India League 2024-25, was conferred with the Hockey India Jaman Lal Sharma Award for invaluable contribution 2024, in recognition of its role in expanding the league’s reach across the country as well as international-level.
Milestone Awards 2024:
i.These awards were constituted to recognise exceptional achievements in international hockey.
ii.For year 2024, Boby Singh Dhami, Rutaja Dadaso Pisal, and Sakshi Rana were received Rs 1 lakh each for scoring a goal in their debut match.
iii.Jarmanpreet Singh and Shamsher Singh awarded with Rs 1 lakh each for completing 100 international caps and; Vivek Sagar Prasad and Sumit received Rs 1.5 lakh each for completing 200 international caps.
- Amit Rohidas and Sushila Chanu, received Rs 2 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh for completing 200 and 250 international caps, respectively.
About Hockey India (HI):
President- Dr. Dilip Tirkey
Headquarters– New Delhi, Delhi
Established – 2009
