Qubbaj, Adayleh win Black Iris Awards

AMMAN — The Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) released the shortlists for the 2014 Black Iris Sports Awards and for the first time, two categories have already been decided with the expert panel revealing that the winners of the Best Sportswoman and the Best Young Sports Achiever – Female awards should be named unchallenged, leaving three categories to be decided through a public vote, according to a statement from the JOC News Service.

Rana Qubbaj’s achievement in winning gold in the World Jujitsu Masters won her the Best Sportswoman award and youngster Eman Al Adayleh, who qualified to the Youth Olympics, won the Best Young Sports Achiever – Female award as the feats were deemed unsurpassable achievements for their categories.

With a new and improved format for selecting the final names to be put to the public vote, the anticipation has been growing since it was confirmed that the expert panel of prominent sports media figures would meet on Sunday.

The awards recognise the best sporting achievers from the past 12 months.

The panel decided from a long list made up of nominations submitted by the National Sporting Federations and then whittled down to three names for each of the three remaining undecided categories with the public now taking centre stage.

Starting later this week, the three shortlists will be posted onto the JOC’s Official website and Facebook page. Votes will be collated with the eventual winners to be announced alongside the two names already revealed at a gala dinner in February.

Black Iris Awards categories:

Best Sportsman

Abdel Rahman Al Masatfeh (Karate): Silver at Asian Games

Odai Al Hindawi (Boxing): Silver at the Asian Games

Mohammad Salameh (Muay Thai): Bronze at Asian Beach Games, Gold in Arab Championship

Best Sportswoman

Rana Qubbaj (Jujitsu): Gold at the World Jujitsu Masters (winner)

Best Young Achiever – Male

Obadah Al Kisbeh (Boxing): Bronze at Asian Games

Hamzeh Qattan (Taekwondo): Silver at World Youth Championships

Zaid Al Halawani (Taekwondo): Gold at World Junior Championships

Best Young Achiever – Female

Eman Al Adayleh (Taekwondo): Qualified for Youth Olympic Games (winner)

Best Paralympic Athlete

Moutaz Al Juniadi (Weightlifting): Gold at World Championships, Silver at Paralympic Asian Games

Khetam Abu Awad (Table Tennis): Silver at World Championships, Bronze at Parlaympic Asian Games

Abdel Kareem Khattab (Weightlifting): Gold at Asian Paralympic Games