The Black Caps spinner Ajaz Patel is a surprise omission from the finalists for the Halberg Sports Awards, which include several Olympians and Commonwealth Games winners.
Photo: Arjun Singh/Sportzpics for BCCI
Patel became just the third bowler in the history of test cricket to take ten wickets in an innings when he took 10-119 for the Black Caps in the second test against India in Mumbai in December 2021.
The performance fell outside the cut-off date for last year's awards, but Patel was nominated for 2023 yet missed out making the 30 finalists which were named last month.
The judging panel is made up of former elite athletes and coaches, sports administrators, and sports media who sifted through the 76 nominations.
The five finalists for the Sportsman of the Year award are squash player Paul Coll, who defended the British Open title and won the singles gold at the Commonwealth Games, Cyclist Aaron Gate who won four Commonwealth Games medals in Birmingham, Olympic snowboarding gold medallist Nico Porteous, World Champion trampolinist Dylan Schmidt and Supercars Championship winner Shane van Gisbergen.
Ajaz Patel enjoys the cake hotel staff made for him to celerbrate his ten wicket achievement in Mumbai. Photo: Ajaz Patel
The five finalists in the Sportswoman of the Year award are cyclist Ellesse Andrews, who won three Commonwealth Games gold medals, kayaker Dame Lisa Carrington, who won two World Championship titles, world cup winning Black Ferns co-captain Ruahei Demant, golfer Lydia Ko and Olympic snowboarding gold medallist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott.
The finalists in the Para Athlete/Para Team, Sportswoman, Sportsman and Team categories will be eligible for the supreme Halberg Award, which is the country's highest accolade for sporting excellence.
Five finalists have been shortlisted for the Para Athlete/ Para Team of the Year including Para Alpine Ski Racers Corey Peters, who won gold and silver at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, and Adam Hall who also won two bronze medals.
Cyclist Nicole Murray who was crowned a double world champion at the Track World Championships, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Dame Sophie Pascoe and fellow Para swimmer and S4 100Freestyle World Champion Cameron Leslie.
New Zealand's players lift the trophy after winning the Rugby World Cup final match between New Zealand and England at Eden Park in Auckland. Photo: AFP / Marty Melville
World Cup winners the Black Ferns standout as the leading contenders for the Team of the Year award.
The other finalists are two Commonwealth gold medal winning squash teams - women's doubles, Joelle King and Amanda Landers-Murphy and mixed doubles duo, Joelle King and Paul Coll.
Rowers Kerry Williams and Grace Prendergast were crowned world champions in the women's pair, while the New Zealand Eventing Team won their first medal in 12 years with bronze at the world championships in Italy.
The finalists in the Para Athlete/Para Team, Sportswoman, Sportsman and Team categories will be eligible for the supreme Halberg Award, which is the country's highest accolade for sporting excellence.
Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith is the leading candidate to be coach of the year. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
The finalists for coach of the year are men's track cycling coach Craig Palmer, women's sprint kayak coach Gordon Walker and Rugby World Cup winning Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith.
Snowsport coaches Tommy Pyatt and Sean Thompson round out the list.
The winners will be announced at the annual awards in Auckland on 15 February.
-RNZ
