Manpreet is first Indian to win FIH Player of the Year award Lausanne: National menu2019s team captain Manpreet Singh on Thursday became the first Indian to win the International Hockey Federationu2019s ( FIH) Player of the Year award, capping a memorable 2019 season in which he led the side to Olympic qualification.

The midfielder, thus, became the first from the country to win the accolade since the awards were introduced in 1999. He beat competition from Belgiumu2019s Arthur van Dorren and Lucas Villa of Argentina, who came second and third respectively. Manpreet polled a total of 35.2 per cent of combined votes, which includes National Associations, media, fans and players. Van Dorren, on the other hand, got combined vote share of 19.7 per cent while Villa polled 16.5 per cent in his favour.