Bhubaneswar: Celebrated weightlifter Priteesmita Bhoi and hockey coach Kalu Charan Choudhury will receive the annual award of Odisha Sports Journalists Association (OSJA) in 2026.
While Bhoi will be felicitated as the Sportsperson of the Year, Choudhury will be awarded for Lifetime Achievement as a coach, OSJA announced.
Each will receive cash reward of Rs 25,000, trophy and citation at a glittering ceremony of OSJA slated to be held on January 18 in Bhubaneswar.
A seven-member jury of OSJA unanimously voted in favour of the Bhoi and Chowdhury for the awards for their outstanding contributions to sports in 2025.
Bhoi, the 16-year-old weightlifter from Odisha, brought glory to India by winning the gold medal in the 44 kg category at the 3rd Asian Youth Games held in Bahrain. The sportsperson from Dhenkanal not only clinched the gold medal in 44 kg category at the sporting event but also created new Asian and World records in the clean and jerk event. She had also won gold at the youth 44 kg women’s category at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships this year.
With over 3 decades of experience as a hockey coach, Choudhury has trained several players who have represented the state at national and international levels. Because of his undying love for nurturing talents in hockey, he continues to train grooming budding hockey talents realise their full potential at Rourkela.
OSJA instituted the awards to felicitate outstanding sportspersons and mentors annually in 2018. While athlete Purnima Hembram and footballer Deb Singh won the awards in the inaugural year, hockey star Amit Rohidas and coach Brijbhushan Mohanty received the prizes in 2019. Para athlete Pramod Bhagat and coach Panchanan Gantayat were felicitated the following year. Chess grandmaster Swayams Mishra and trainer Arun Das in 2021, basketball player Arupananda Routray and hockey Olympian Birendra Lakra in 2022, cyclist Swasti Singh and Odisha’s first men’s international hockey player Peter Tirkey in 2023, Javelin star Kishore Kumar Jena and Arjun awardee weightlifter Bijay Satpathy in 2024 and swimmer Pratyasha Ray and football coach Mohammed Shahid Jabbar in 2025 form the list of the awardees so far.-
