Heptathlon ace Purnima Hembram and renowned former footballer Deba Singh have been nominated to receive the OSJA Annual Awards 2017-18 as the Outstanding Sportsperson of the Year and for Lifetime Achievements and Contributions respectively.

Instituted for the first time, the coveted awards will be conferred in the Foundation Day Function of Odisha Sports Journalists’ Association (OSJA), which is all set to be held in a city hotel in Bhubaneswar on March 21, 2018. Both the awards will carry a cheque of Rs 25,000 each along with citation and memento.

Year 2017-18 was a glorious one for 24-year-old Mayurbhanj woman athlete Purnima, who bagged the pentathlon gold in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan in June 2017 and the heptathlon bronze in the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar in July, 2017.