19th Best Athlete of BiH Election: Extended Candidate Lists Adopted

(Patria) - The expert jury of the 19th Best Athlete of BiH election, an event organized by "Nezavisne novine" and Radio Television of BiH, chaired this year by Samir Avdić, adopted extended lists of candidates in all 12 categories at yesterday's session in the "Bristol" hotel in Mostar.

23 candidates are competing for the best athlete of the year: Miralem Pjanić, Edin Džeko, Sead Kolašinac (football), Mesud Pezer, Kemal Mešić, Amel Tuka
(athletics) Damir Džumhur (tennis), Benjamin Burić, Marko Panić, Nikola Prce (handball), Nemanja Gordić, Džanan Musa, Jusuf Nurkić (basketball), Nedžad Husić (taekwondo), Harun Sadiković, Toni Miletić, Vasilije Vujičić, Petar Zadro (judo), Emir Muratović (swimming), Tihomir Gajić (volleyball), Igor Emkić (kick-boxing), Luka Vuković (karate) and Sanjin Pehlivanović (billiards).

15 candidates have been included in the competition for the best female athlete of BiH, and they are: Zenira Bektaš (karate), Jelena Gajić (athletics), Amina Kajtaz (swimming), Amira Husić, Ajla Paradžik (volleyball), Lejla Tanović, Anesa Hidić (cycling), Naila Krupić (taekwondo), Larisa Cerić, Aleksandra Samardžić (judo), Marica Gajić, Melisa Brčaninović (basketball), Almira Lizde (powerlifting), Matija Paridžik and Selma Baltić (kick-boxing).

In the city on the Neretva River, proposals for the best team and the best coach in 2019 were also considered. 23 teams are included in the competition for the best sports collective:
BiH Athletics Team, BiH Judo Team, Cycling Club Zmaj od Bosne, Croatian Futsal Club Zrinjski, Cycling Club Daj Krug Bihać, Mountain Biking Club "Puls", Cycling Club Rotacija/Spin Zenica, OK "Mladost" Brčko, Table Tennis Club HT ERONET Mostar, Croatian Sports Club Zrinjski (juniors), BiH Football Team, Futsal Club Mostar Stari grad Staklorad, Women's Football Club SFK 2000 Sarajevo, BiH Men's Handball Team, FK Sarajevo, KK Širok, RK Borac, RK Izviđač, ŽOK Bimal Jedinstvo, ŽRK Grude, ŽKK RMU Banovići, BiH Women's Senior Basketball Team and BiH Women's Volleyball Team.

The extended list for the best coach includes: Asmer Šeta (karate), Haris Husić (taekwondo), Hajrudin Trle, Amar Njemčević (cycling), Branko Mišić (volleyball), Toni Vranjić (table tennis), Amel Kapo (swimming), Mirza Hrustemović (sitting volleyball), Robert Prosinečki, Samira Hurem (football), Branislav Crnogorac (judo), Almedin Fetahović (boxing), Bilal Šuman (handball), Đani Gidini (athletics), Smail Pezerović (volleyball) and Husref Musemić (football).

Jury president Samir Avdić expressed his satisfaction after the session that all decisions were made unanimously.

"I must say that we had an efficient and successful session. I am honestly surprised by the number of nominations. The list of potential laureates has been narrowed down, so we will be ready for the third session in Banja Luka. It is important that this time again we were all unanimous, and that we have considered all proposals in detail, so I am sure that we will choose the best in the end," said Avdić.

The next jury session will be held on November 18 in Banja Luka, when the lists of nominees in all 12 categories will be reduced. The award ceremony for the best athletes of BiH in 2019 will be held on December 12 in the Congress Hall of the "Holiday" hotel in Sarajevo, starting at 8 PM. On the same day, a few hours earlier, the last jury session will be held. "Nezavisne novine" and BHRT are organizing the Best Athlete of BiH Election for the 19th year in a row, the most relevant event of its kind in BiH, whose partner is the BiH Olympic Committee. Strong support is also provided by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH.

Voting for the audience award will also begin soon on the "Nezavisne novine" portal (www.nezavisne.com).

Among the candidates for the recognition of the most promising athletes of BiH in both categories are several of our hopes with notable results. Female athletes: Hana Piralić (judo), Lana Pudar (swimming), Dragana Domuzin, Dragana Zubac, Marija Kešeljević (basketball), Dora Ćosić (table tennis), Milana Božić, Ivana Radović (volleyball), Ana Petrović (handball), Minela Gačanica, Đula Velagić, Marija Damjanović (football), Stefani Krešić and Anđela Stojić (karate). Male athletes: Belmin Mrkanović (athletics), Branko Tadić, Kerim Hasić (judo), Marko Kovačić, Arman Livadić (swimming), Husein Selimović, Siniša Lukić, David Maličević (cycling), Niša Tanić (volleyball), Hamza Turulja, Hamza Čajić, Mensur Đozić, Eldin Hajdarpašić, Ahmed Busnov, Tarik Salkić and Omar Halilović (karate). Lists of candidates for lifetime achievement awards, sports development awards, fair play, best athlete in sports for disabled people, best team in sports for disabled people, and the audience award were also adopted.