Devika Darjee

February 1, 2011 by 10 Comments
A winner

Almost 200 of you took part in the poll to decide who would be our sportsperson of the year. Thank you for voting. And thank you for your many comments. I closed the poll at midnight on the last day of January.

The race was close. Ugyen Yoeser (cycling) and Devika Darjee (cricket) ran neck and neck in our informal competition. Eventually Devika won, but by barely a whisker – she secured 55 votes against Ugyen’s 53.

Devika Darjee was the only lady among my nominees for the sportsperson of 2010. She beat nine men to the top spot. Congratulations.

Devika wins Nu 25,000. She should contact me by email to claim her prize.

The prize money comes from the Nu 200,000 I collected for completing the Tour of the Dragon, a bicycle race from Bumthang to Thimphu. All of it is being spent on social work, especially to promote sports.

 Photo credit: Kuensel

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Sportsperson of the year

January 7, 2011 by 23 Comments
Mr-Bhutan-tshering-dorji

Bhutan's strength

Who’s your favourite sportsperson?

No, I’m not talking about international sports personalities. I’m talking about your favourite Bhutanese sportsman or woman.

Let’s find out. Please take the poll that asks: who, in your opinion, is the Sportsperson of 2010?

My nominations are not exhaustive. Nor are they accurate. They are some of our athletes I’ve read about or heard about from the media during the past year. They are people who I think have excelled in their sport. Or who have shown potential. And who are role models for our children.

If I’ve missed any one – and I’m sure I have – please feature them in your comments. Or send me an email. It’s important to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of our sportsmen and sportswomen.

Here are my nominations for Sportsperson of 2010:

  1. Archery (traditional equipment). Rinzin Drukpa hit 22 karays and 8 dayas in the Druk Wangyal Archery Tournament to become the best archer of the tournament.
  2. Archery (imported equipment). Sonam Jamtsho hit 54 karays in the Silver Jubilee Archery Tournament and 40 karays in the National Coronation Archery Tournament. His consistency earned him the title of best archer in both the tournaments.
  3. Bodybuilding. Tshering Dorji (pictured above) won the National Bodybuilding Championship to be crowned Mr. Bhutan, and then went on to win a bronze medal in the South Asian bodybuilding competition.
  4. Boxing. RBA’s Phub Sigyel captured the imagination of the whole kingdom by making it to the quarterfinals in last Asian Games.
  5. Cricket. Devika Darjee was declared woman of the match two times as the bowler took our U-19 women’s team all the way to the ACC championship finals in Singapore.
  6. Cycling. Ugyen Yoeser won the first Tour of the Dragon cycling 268 km from Bumthang to Thimphu in 12hrs 33mins.
  7. Football. Kinga Thinley, a student from Ugyen Academy, scored a hat trick and was declared man of the match as Yeedzin FC were crowned national A-division league champions.
  8. Golf. Bahadur Tamang and Budha Singh Tamang, brothers studying at Zilukha LSS and caddying at Thimphu’s golf club, won a tournament each (and a car each) in 2010. Together they have won three cars in the past 18 months.
  9. Marathon. Pasang Pasang of RBA clocked 2hrs 44mins to easily win the Coronation Marathon held in Wangduephodrang.
  10. Tennis. Tandin Wangchuk took three titles at the 2010 National Tennis Open Championship: the men’s singles; under 18 boy’s singles; and the men’s championship trophy.

UPDATE: Devika Darjee (cricket) was also declared the best bowler of the tournament. Phub Sigyel (boxing) had won a silver in the 11th South Asian Games held in Dhaka.

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