ANOTHER Sports Awards of the Year crowning ceremony took place Saturday night at the SMB Exhibition Hall, Roche Caïman, to reward the best athletes here for their positive contributions during the 2001 season.

The night itself proved to be a memorable one for Laser sailor Allan Julie, who successfully defended his Sportsman of the Year title, and young shot putter Helda Marie who swept both the Sportswoman of the Year crown and the best young female athlete of the season trophy.

Seychelles Nation brings you a profile of the top five male and female finishers who were chosen by the Selection Committee from a list of 10 finalists in each category.

Laser sailor Allan Julie (Sportsman of the Year)

Achievements in 2001

National competitions

National Laser Championship              Third

Regatta Competition                                  First

National 420 Championship                 First

International competitions

Laser Standard Europa Cup                  13th out of 147 participants

Spa Regatta                                           25th out of 105 competitors

Semaine Olympique Française              15th place out of 60 sailors

Pfingstbusch Regatta                         3rd overall

Kieler Woche competition                   14th out of 117 competitors

Laser Standard European Championship and European Trophy    26th out of 52 in the gold fleet

World Laser Sailing Championship    27th out of 158 participants

Ranked 26th worldwide, Laser sailor Julie, winner of two races in seven competitions in Europe last season, becomes the third male athlete after boxers Rival Payet (formerly Cadeau) and Jerry Legras to win the Sportsman of the Year crown a second time in a row.

The 24-year-old, who followed a five-month training camp in Europe with SailCoach as part of his four-year Olympic Solidarity scholarship, really improved his results during the 2001 season and even managed a 27th place finish out of 158 participants in his fifth participation in the World Laser Sailing Championship.

It is to be noted that Julie has won the best male sailor award a record seven consecutive times.

Cyclist Hudson Mathieu (Runner-up)

Achievements in 2001

National competitions

National Championship             Winner

Vijay Tour                                Winner

King of the Mountain             Runner-up

International competitions

African Cycling Championship             Individual time trial bronze medallist

World 'B' Championship               8th out of 46 in the individual time trial

World 'B' Championship               25th out of 72 in the 181.5km road race

Tour des Seychelles                                 runner-up

Tour de Maurice                                   third overall, best young and regional rider

Individual time trial specialist Hudson Mathieu, who rode for French team Club Athlétique Cyclisme (C.A.C.) 41, continued his progress last year. After his fifth consecutive National Championship victory, Mathieu, a familiar name in the race for the supreme title, was runner-up to Frencham Yann Vigouroux in the eighth Tour des Seychelles by just 34 seconds, but he won the 17.2-km individual time trial race of the Tour for a third consecutive year.

The young sprinter, who consolidated his runner-up ranking in the Sportsman of the Year title race, was third in the 21st Tour de Maurice where he finished as the best young and regional rider.

The four-time best young male athlete of the year, an eighth place finisher in the individual time trial of the World 'B' Championship, grabbed a bronze medal in the same event of the African Cycling Championship in Pretoria, South Africa.

Throws specialist Selwyn Beauchamp (Third)

Achievements in 2001

National competitions

League Final (discus)             Gold medal

National Championship             Gold medal

International competitions

Fifth African Junior championship (shot putt)          Silver medal (13.76m)

Jeux des Villes et Communes de l'OI (shot putt)     Silver medal (13.71m)

Jeux des Villes et Communes de l'OI (discus) Bronze medal (41.04m)

Throws specialist Selwyn Beauchamp, who rewrote the Seychelles record books on a number of occasions last year, has really improved and he was able to rival with other competitors in his age category and above in both the Indian Ocean region and on the African continent.

The silver medal at the Fifth African Junior Championship was the icing on the cake for the 19-year-old who was named the best male athlete of the year for the first time.

Basketballer Jefferson Nganga (Fourth )

Achievements in 2001

National competitions

League Championship    Winner

SBF Cup                                   Winner

Curtain Raiser                Winner

International competitions

East, Central and Southern African Club Basketball Championship          Semifinalist

East, Central and Southern African Nations Basketball Championship     Finalist

Christmas Tournament                                                                           Finalist

Twenty-five-year-old quicksilver international guard Jefferson Nganga was instrumental in leading PLS Hawks, who had not won the League competition for four years, into championship material during his first season with the team.

Nganga, capable of taking on an opposing team's zone defence in one quick flowing move, led PLS Hawks to winning the League and Cup double in front of former champions Premium Cobras last year.

Voted the best male basketballer award for the first time, Nganga, who has mellowed over the years, was also a key figure in the country's team who participated in both the East, Central and Southern African Nations Basketball Championship in Tanzania and the Christmas Tournament in Reunion. They reached the finals of both tournaments.

Badminton player Georgie Cupidon (Fifth)

Achievements in 2001

National competitions

Curtain Raiser                Winner of men's singles and men's doubles

Seystyle Tournament       Winner of men's singles and men's doubles

NOB's Tournament                   Winner of men's singles and men's doubles

National League             Winner of men's singles and men's doubles

International competitions

Mauritius Open Tournament (mixed doubles)            Silver medallist

Mauritius Open Tournament (men's doubles)              Bronze medallist

In 2001, 20-year-old Cupidon continued from where he left off in 2000 and he remained undefeated in the singles events of local competitions. He teamed up with 2001 Sportslady of the Year Juliette Ah-Wan to win the silver medal of the mixed doubles of the Mauritius Open Tournament and then had Nicholas Jumaye as partner in the men's doubles bronze medal conquest.

Throws specialist Helda Marie (Sportswoman of the Year)

Achievements in 2001

National competitions

Special Events Final (shot putt)                         Gold medal

Track and Field Meet (hammer)                         Gold medal

International competitions

African Southern Region Championship (shot putt)             Gold medal

CJSOI Games (hammer and shot putt)                                  Gold medals

Fifth African Junior Championship (shot putt)                     Gold medal

THE Sportslady of the Year title crowns a successful 2001 season for Helda Marie who, at 18 years old, becomes the second youngest athlete after Mirenda Francourt in 1992 (17 years old) to win the title.

Recently voted best female young athlete for the year 2001, Marie has now made a clean sweep of all the titles on offer.

Marie, who is a multiple gold medallist at the Jeux de la Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de l'Océan indien (CJSOI) in Madagascar and the African Southern Region Championship in Mauritius, was the shot putt gold medallist at the Fifth African Junior Athletics Championship.

Holder of the national hammer best marks, Marie's distance of 13.58m at the Fifth African Junior Athletics Championship represents a combined Seychelles record for the cadet, junior and senior categories.

Volleyballer Marille Finesse (Runner-up)

Achievements in 2001

National competitions

Curtain Raiser                                       Winner

SVF Shield                                                       Runner-up

League Championship                           Winner

Super Cup                                                        Runner-up

SVF Cup                                                         Winner

International competitions

Indian Ocean Club Championship (IOCC)             Runner-up

African Nations' Cup                                        Winner

International setter Marille Finesse, who celebrated her 28th birthday on Thursday (January 17), had a very successful season last year as she was awarded the best setter trophies at both the African Nations' Cup in Nigeria and the IOCC here.

Selected to play in the African Selection in an international competition in Spain, Marille Finesse, the younger sister of Chantal – herself a former Seychelles setter – was voted best volleyballer for the first time in her 12-year career. The player translated her good performance with club team Anse Royale into the national by playing a part in their African Nations' Cup success in Nigeria.

Volleyballer Annie Dugasse (Third)

Achievements in 2001

National competitions

Curtain Raiser                           Runner-up

SVF Shield                                           Winner

League Championship               Runner-up

Super Cup                                            Winner

SVF Cup                                             Runner-up

International competitions

Indian Ocean Cup Championship (IOCC)             Winner

African Nations' Cup                                        Winner

Third overall in 2000, Annie Dugasse won three individual titles, including the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the Indian Ocean Club Championship (IOCC) played here last year.

Even though her team Cascade surrendered both the League and SVF Cup crowns to rivals Anse Royale, she captained them to winning the IOCC crown for the second time in two years and was a member of the women's team who won the African Nations' Cup in Nigeria.

The 23-year-old attacker also formed part of the African Selection in an international competition in Spain.

Weightlifter Janet Thélermont (Fourth)

Achievements in 2001

National competitions

Open Championship               Winner

Association's Cup                   Winner

National Championship             Winner

International competition

African Weightlifting Championship             Snatch gold medallist

Policewoman Janet Thélermont, 23, snatched a gold medal in the 69-kg division of the African Weightlifting Championship in Durban, South Africa, in August last year. Winner of all local competitions, Thélermont has now improved her ranking by one place in the  final.

Basketballer Simone Bamboche (Fifth)

Achievements in 2001

National competitions

League Championship               Winner

SBF Cup                                               Winner

Curtain Raiser                           Runner-up

International competitions

Indian Ocean Club Championship            Third place

Indian Ocean Club Championship            Winner of MVP and Best Scorer titles

Thirty-year-old international centre Simone Bamboche led her undermanned team, Anse Etoile Stars, to third place at the Indian Ocean Club Championship in Mauritius where she took both the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Best Scorer awards.

Runner-up to Sportswoman of the Year Lindy Leveaux in 1996, Bamboche, who has won the best basketballer award three times – in 1990, 1996 and 2001 – in her career,  led the Stars to capturing the League and Cup double last year.