Rahenur Islam, senior sub-editor of Daily Agamir Shomoy, has been named Sports Journalist of the Year 2025 at the Max-Bangladesh Sports Press Association (BSPA) Journalist Awards, winning the top honour for the second time after his success in 2023.
Rahenur received the Towfiq Aziz Khan Trophy and a cheque for Tk1 lakh after securing the highest marks from an independent panel of judges at the awards ceremony held at Fars Hotel in Paltan, Dhaka, on Saturday.
Tarek Mahmud, sports editor of Prothom Alo, and Arafat Jobayer, senior reporter of Dhaka Post, were named joint runners-up in the top category.
The ceremony was organised by BSPA and presided over by its president, Rezwan Uz Zaman. Mohammad Aminul Haque, State Minister for Youth and Sports, attended as the chief guest and handed over the awards. Engineer Golam Mohammad Alamgir, chairman of Max Group and senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Swimming Federation, was the special guest.
Sponsored by Max Group, the awards ceremony marked the 11th consecutive year of recognising excellence in sports journalism in Bangladesh, with honours presented in eight categories.
In the Exclusive Report category, SM Iqbal Kawsar, senior reporter of Somoy TV, won the Bodi-Uz-Zaman Trophy for his work in 2025. Tarek Mahmud, Riasad Azim and Zahir Uddin were the runners-up.
Rahenur also won the Ataul Haque Mallik Trophy in the Interview (Print and Online) category, with Tarek Mahmud and Tanzim Ahmed of Bangla Tribune finishing as runners-up. He was also a runner-up in the Series Report category, won by Arafat Jobayer, with Rubel Rehan of TSports sharing the runners-up recognition.
Shuvo Debnath of News24 won the Interview (TV) category, while Shahjahan Kabir of Kaler Kantho claimed the Feature (Print and Online) award. SK Shawon of Ekhon TV won in the Documentary (TV) category, and Shamsul Haque Tenku of Prothom Alo took the Photography award.
On the occasion of World Sports Journalists Day, BSPA also honoured senior sports journalist Mostafa Kamal and veteran sports writer Major (Retd.) Shahabuddin Chakladar with special recognition.