The shortlisted nominees for Kerala’s biggest sports award - Manorama Sports Star 2022 - instituted by Malayala Manorama in association with Santa Monica Study Abroad, have been announced.
With a total prize money of Rs 6 lakh, Manorama Sports Star 2022, which will recognise and honour individuals for their extraordinary achievements, is the biggest sports award in Kerala in terms of the amount awarded.
The six final contenders picked by a three-member expert panel are: Eldhose Paul (athletics), Treesa Jolly (badminton), Abdulla Aboobacker (athletics), Sanju Samson (cricket), Sahal Abdul Samad (football), and S L Narayanan (chess).
The panel comprising Olympian T C Yohannan, former president of the Kerala State Sports Council and Olympian Mercy Kuttan, and former shuttler and Arjuna awardee George Thomas assessed the performances of Keralite sportspersons in different disciplines during the last one year at national and international levels before finalising the list. Winners of the previous editions of the Manorama Sports Star Award were not included in the final list.
The winner will be determined via online/SMS voting.
The sportsperson with maximum number of votes will receive the Manorama Sports Star Award 2022 and a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh. The second and third prize winners will be awarded trophies and a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh respectively. As many as 10 lucky persons who take part in the selection process will be given away Rs 10,000 each.
Badminton star H S Prannoy was the winner of the maiden Manorama Sports Star Award in 2017. Athlete Jinson Johnson and special cricketer Aneesh P Rajan were the winners in 2018 and 2019 respectively. In 2020-21, former Indian hockey team captain P R Sreejesh walked away with the coveted award.
Here’s a quick recap of each finalist’s performance in 2022.
Eldhose Paul
In 2022, the 26-year-old Eldhose became the first Malayali to win an individual gold at the Commonwealth Games. He also became the first Indian triple jumper to enter the Worlds final and finished a creditable ninth with 16.79m. He was conferred the Arjuna award in 2022.
Abdulla Aboobacker
The triple jumper from Nadapuram in Kozhikode district secured a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. With his efforts of 17.19m in 2022, Abdulla also recorded the second-best leap in the Indian triple jump's history. He is the only Indian to have crossed the 17m-mark thrice.
Sahal Abdul Samad
A member of the Indian senior football team, Sahal scored a late winner to help India edge out Afghanistan in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in June, 2022. He was also an integral part of the Kerala Blasters team which entered the final of the 2022 edition of the Indian Super League.
Treesa Jolly
Treesa grabbed two medals in badminton at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (silver in mixed team event and bronze in doubles). She also made it to the All England semifinals partnering Gayatri Gopichand.
Sanju Samson
The year 2022 was a great one for Sanju. He was part of the Indian senior team for the T20 International series against Sri Lanka, Ireland, and England. The 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter also found a spot in the Indian team for the One-Day International series against the West Indies, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. He also captained the India 'A' team and Rajasthan Royals, who finished second in the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League.
S L Narayanan
In March 2022, Narayanan won the Grandiscacchi Cattolica International Open held in Italy. The 25-year-old Narayanan also emerged champion in the 23rd Sants International Open in Barcelona. He was a member of the India 'A' team for the 44th Chess Olympiad hosted by Chennai.
