Mihaaru Awards kicked off the night’s festivities following the arrival of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at 0830 hours to ‘Dharubaaruge’ convention centre in Male’ City.
Audiences were treated to a brief introductory video outlining the history of sports in Maldives, followed by an electric live performance by the first Maldivian Idol winner Laisha Junaid.
After an extensive dinner spread catered for by The Kitchen, the ceremony was inaugurated by a welcome address delivered by Executive Director of Mihaaru, Vaail Zahir Hussain.
A total of 25 awards were distributed within the field of Football, Volleyball, Athletics, Swimming, Badminton and Table Tennis.
Mihaaru then awarded plaques of appreciation to the events' main sponsors Ooredoo Maldives and Allied Insurance, advertisement partner, Think Advertisement, media partner, VMedia and associate partners Sony Sports, Total Fitness Group (TFG), Veligaa Hardware, BHM Traders, Rainbow Enterprises Pvt Ltd and Print Lab. The plaques were presented by Executive Director Vaail.
In recognition of the successful campaign at the recently held 10th Indian Ocean Island Games 2019, medalists were awarded special packages by Ooredoo and Allied.
The awarding aspect of the ceremony started with individual categories which include;
- Women's Most Promising Individual Player - Fathimath Dheema Ali (Table Tennis)
- Women's Individual Best Player - Fathimath Nabaaha (Badminton)
- Men's Most Promising Individual - Mohamed Naail (Athletics)
- Men's Best Individual Player - Mohamed Ajufan (Badminton)
The presenters then moved onto the next leg, the categories of Football and Volleyball. The winners of which were;
- Women's Best Volleyballer - Aishath Maajidha
- Men's Most Promising Volleyballer - Ariz Mohamed
- Men's Best Volleyballer - Ali Huzam
First lady Fazna Ahmed then presented the Special Recognition Award to sports icon late Sayyid Hassan.
Afterward, Commissioner of Sports Ahmed Saleem (Heena) presented the title of Best Referee to long-serving umpire Ahmed Saleem (Kun'di).
Having won the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018, Executive Director Vaail presented Mihaaru's special recognition award to the winning national football team squad.
Additionally, Mihaaru awarded Club Eagles’ striker, Ahmed Rizwan, with special recognition for his hat-trick record, scoring five hat-tricks in five consecutive matches of the Dhiraagu Dhivehi Premier League and equalling the Guinness World Record holder for most consecutive hat-tricks in competitive matches. The award was presented by the Sports Commission's Managing Director Mauroof Ahmed.
Mohamed Rasheed (Hiyalee) received the illustrious 'Zahir Naseer Award', given in remembrance of former Olympic Committee President Mohamed Zahir Naseer for the elite few deserving of a Lifetime Achievement recognition in the field of sports
As the event drew to a close, Mihaaru concluded the event with the category football, dubbing Ashfaq the best footballer and Hassan Raif as the most promising footballer of 2018.
Moreover, Ashfaq was presented the Golden Boot by Football Association of Maldives (FAM) President Bassam Adeel Jaleel, marking the eighth instance he achieved the award.
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