Indians sweep individual prizes at FIH Champions Trophy

NEW DELHI: India may have wasted a golden opportunity to break their 32-year-old medal jinx in the FIH Champions Trophy, having finished 4th, but they ended up getting a raft of individual prizes at the eight-nation elite tournament on Sunday.
Hosts India went down to defending champions Australia 1-2 in a hard-fought bronze medal play-off match at the Kalinga stadium.
READ ALSO:India lose to Australia 1-2, finish fourth
But their valiant show in the meet did not went unnoticed as they win the individual prizes from best goalkeeper to best junior to most energetic to the fan's choice awards.
Parattu Sreejesh was awarded 'Tata Steel Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament' whereas SV Sunil was named as the most energetic player of the meet.
Indian skipper Sardar Singh was the fans favourite as he won the 'Nalco Fan's Choice Award' for his performance.
Young Akashdeep Singh also wrote his name in the award book as the best junior player of the tournament.

Germany's Moritz Furste and Netherlands' Jeroen Herztberger won the remaining two individual awards as the former was adjudged best player of the tournament and the latter finished as the highest scorer of the meet.
READ ALSO:Germany beat Pakistan 2-0 to win Champions Trophy
On Sunday, playing before a vociferous packed home crowd, it was the best chance for the Indians to end their medal drought in the tournament but as has been the case in the entire tournament, missed chances continued to haunt Sardar Singh and Co.
The only time India had won a medal in the Champions Trophy was when they bagged a bronze in the 1982 edition in Amsteelveen, the Netherlands.
Olympic champions Germany clinched the title with a convincing 2-0 win over Pakistan in the summit clash, snapping their five-year old jinx in the elite eight-nation event.
Individual awards
Hero Best Player of the Tournament: Moritz Furste, Germany
Hero Top Scorer of the Tournament: Jeroen Herztberger, The Netherlands
Tata Steel Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Parattu Sreejesh, India
Cairn India Most Energetic Player: SV Sunil, India
MCL Best Junior Player of the Tournament: Akashdeep Singh, India
Nalco Fan's Choice Award: Sardar Singh, India
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