Hockey Belgium Unhappy with FIH Hockey Stars Awards as India Sweep All Categories

Hockey Belgium expressed their disappointment over the results of the FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2020-21 on Wednesday despite their men’s team winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Indian hockey stars swept all the categories in the awards with Belgium finishing runners-up in three categories. Athletes Gurjit Kaur (Best Player, Women), Harmanpreet Singh (Best Player, Men), Savita (Best Goalkeeper, Women), PR Sreejesh (Best Goalkeeper, Men), Sharmila Devi (Best Rising Star, Women) and Vivek Prasad (Best Rising Star, Men) as well as the coaches of India’s women’s team, Sjoerd Marijne (NED) and India’s men’s team, Graham Reid (AUS) grabbed the highest number of votes in their respective categories.

Hockey Belgium made a post on social media stating their disappointment and said it was a “failure of the voting system”. They said they will work with the world governing body to create a “fairer” system.

“Hockey Belgium is very disappointed with the outcome of @FIH_Hockey Star Awards. A gold winning team with multiple nominees in all categories but doesn’t win a single award demonstrates failure of the voting system. We will work with FIH to ensure a fairer system in the future,” they tweeted.

Netherlands, who won the women’s event, only finished runners-up in two categories.

With no FIH Hockey Stars Awards in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 global health pandemic on the international calendar, this year’s awards covered the period from January 2020 through to the conclusion of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The voting process started on 23 August and concluded on 15 September 2021. Votes from National Associations – represented by their respective national captains and coaches – counted for 50% of the overall result, while fans and players (25%) as well as media (25%) made the other half of the votes.

RESULTS – WOMEN

FIH Player of the Year:

1. Gurjit Kaur (IND)

2. Eva de Goede (NED)

3. Frédérique Matla (NED)

4. Agustina Albertarrio (ARG)

5. Agustina Gorzelany (ARG)

6. Maria Verschoor (NED)

FIH Goalkeeper of the Year:

1. Savita (IND)

2. Belén Succi (ARG)

3. Maddie Hinch (GBR/ENG)

FIH Rising Star of the Year:

1. Sharmila Devi (IND)

2. Valentina Raposo (ARG)

3. Fiona Crackles (GBR/ENG)

FIH Coach of the Year:

1. Sjoerd Marijne (NED – Team IND)

2. Alyson Annan (AUS – Team NED)

3. Mark Hager (AUS – Team GBR/ENG)

RESULTS – MEN

FIH Player of the Year:

1. Harmanpreet Singh (IND)

2. Alexander Hendrickx (BEL)

3. Arthur van Doren (BEL)

4. Aran Zalewski (AUS)

5. Tim Brand (AUS)

6. Jake Whetton (AUS)

FIH Goalkeeper of the Year:

1. PR Sreejesh (IND)

2. Vincent Vanasch (BEL)

3. Andrew Charter (AUS)

FIH Rising Star of the Year:

1. Vivek Prasad (IND)

2. Mustaphaa Cassiem (RSA)

3. Sean Findlay (NZL)

FIH Coach of the Year:

1. Graham Reid (AUS – Team IND)

2. Shane McLeod (NZL – Team BEL)

3. Colin Batch (AUS)

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