Bhubaneswar: Hockey Olympian Birendra Lakra and former international basketball player Arupananda Routray have been selected for the annual awards of Odisha Sports Journalists’ Association (OSJA) for 2021.
Vice-captain of the Indian men’s hockey team that won the bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Lakra would be conferred with the OSJA Sportsperson of the Year Award, while the state’s basketball legend Routray would be presented OSJA Lifetime Achievement Award, said OSJA president Sandeep Mishra while announcing the annual awards on Tuesday.
Lakra, who also represented India in 2012 London Olympics, helped India win gold medal at Incheon Asian Games and silver medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.
Arupananda Routray
First basketball international of Odisha, Routray not only played for the country but also guided the National team as Head Coach. He represented both Odisha and Services in Senior National Championships for many years.
The prestigious awards would be presented on the occasion of the seventh Foundation Day function of OSJA in Bhubaneswar on March 21. Each award carries Rs 25,000, a special trophy and citation.
State unit of Sports Journalists’ Federation of India (SJFI), OSJA has been presenting the annual awards since 2018. Past winners of the OSJA Sporspersons of Year award include athletics Purnima Hembram (2018), hockey international Amit Rohidas (2019), paralympic badminton champion Pramod Bhagat (2020) and chess Grandmaster Swayams Mishra (2021).
Past winners of the OSJA Lifetime Achievement Awards include veteran footballer Debendra Prasad Singh (2018), boxing coach Braja Bhusan Mohanty (2019), athletics coaches Panchanan Gantayat (2020) and Arun Kumar Das (2021).
