On Friday, March 27, two hockey players earned a prestigious title at the 8th Hockey India annual award ceremony held in Delhi. Navneet Kaur and Hardik Singh were awarded the Women’s and Men’s Player of the Year respectively. The achievement recognised their hard work and contribution to the sport. Besides the two, the ceremony saw several other players receiving a wide range of honours.
Navneet and Hardik Singh were honoured with the Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr. trophy and were awarded with INR 20 lakh each.
Meanwhile, Bichu Devi Kharibam won the Hockey India Baljit Singh Award for Goalkeeper of the Year 2025. Defender of the Year 2025 Sanjay was awarded the Hockey India Pargat Singh Award. Sumit was named for the Hockey India Ajit Pal Singh Award honour as Midfielder of the Year 2025.
The Hockey India Dhanraj Pillay Award for Forward of the Year 2025 was awarded to Sukhjeet Singh. Each of the awardees took home a cash prize of INR 5 lakh.
The Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Zafar Iqbal. He was named in respect to his key role in India’s gold medal win at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games along with two silver medals won at the 1978 and 1982 Asian Games followed by a bronze in the 1982 Champions Trophy.
Earlier in the day, Raghu Prasad RV was named as the 2026 FIH Umpire of the Year. India’s gold medal team, which won the 2025 Asia Cup in Rajgir, Bihar were also awarded in the ceremony. Each player received a cash prize worth INR 3 lakh, while the support staff earned INR 1.5 lakh each.
On the other hand, India’s men’s team, which won bronze at the 2025 FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup were also rewarded. Each player got a cash prize of INR 5 lakh and the support staff received INR 2.5 lakh each.
Both the senior men’s and women’s hockey teams were awarded with incentives for each international match that they won. The men’s team received INR 1.38 crore, while the women took home worth INR 69 lakh.
India’s emerging talents like Prince Deep Singh who was named Men’s Upcoming Player of the Year 2025 won the Jugraj Singh Award. Women’s player Sakshi Rana received the Asunta Lakra Award as Women’s Upcoming Player of the Year 2025. Both of the youngsters received a sum of INR 10 lakh each.
