Bermuda's stand-in cricket captain Janeiro Tucker and world youth long jump champion Arantxa King were named the Island's male and female athletes of the year last night at the 25th annual Sports Awards.

The ceremony at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess was attended by close to 150 people, with Government ministers and top sports officials joining with many of the Island's premier athletes in a sporting celebration.

Tucker beat off competition from his captain Clay Smith and Bermuda allrounder Lionel Cann to claim the prestigious top award while King triumphed over boxing world champion Teresa Perozzi and swimmer Kiera Aitken.

The key to Tucker's success was his outstanding contribution to the national team's cause in a year of unprecedented cricketing achievement - which saw Bermuda claim a World Cup berth for the very first time as well as the regional Intercontinental Cup crown.

In 12 limited over internationals, the Southampton Rangers allrounder amassed 439 runs at an average of 39, his highest score of 132 coming against the USA in the ICC Trophy - a game which stamped the team's World Cup passport.

Furthermore, his seven-hour 123 against Canada in the Intercontinental Cup last August proved critical in forcing Bermuda back into the three-day game after being dismissed for a paltry first innings total of 125.

It was this effort that set Bermuda on course for a famous victory and, following a much easier triumph a few days later against the Cayman Islands, an eventual place in the competition's semi-finals in Namibia.

“I am very surprised and humbled to recognised like this,” said Tucker.

“It's the result of a lot of hard work over the last year and I've got to thank my team-mates for being there and supporting me. Getting into the World Cup was a really great achievement but there is still a lot of hard work to be done and we must start focusing on what we've got coming up, not what we've done. It's time to open up a new chapter.”

King meanwhile leapt to the gold medal at the World Youth Athletics Championships in Morocco last July, becoming the first Bermudian junior athletics world champion in the process and shattering her own personal best with a jump of 6.39 metres.

Her success at that event came only four months after winning the gold medal at the Carifta Games in Tobago while at the Junior Pan American Championships in July, she struck gold once again.

The youngster is the 13th best junior athlete in the world according to the IAAF's official rankings.

“I had absolutely no clue I was going to win,” said an elated King afterwards.

“I worked really hard and had to make a lot of sacrifices in order to be successful so to be recognised for all that is special. Coming up I've got the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next month and after that I'm going to carry on training to see how far I can really go.”

Aside from the the principalhonours of the evening, two special achievement awards were presented.

Patricia Petty was recognised for her long service to the Bermuda Triathlon Association while Denise Kyme, mother of squash professional Nick, was hailed for her decades of work at the forefront of the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association, the Bermuda Council for Drug Free Sport and the Bermuda Women in Sport Committee.

Meanwhile, the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy received an appreciation award for their hugely successful sailing programmes at both senior and junior levels.

Though he missed out on the top prize, Cann did receive an achievement award in recognition of a large number of impressive contributions on the international and domestic stages - most notably his barnstorming lower order knocks at the ICC Trophy.

Skipper Smith meanwhile - who attended the ceremony despite having just returned from knee surgery in the United States - was also honoured for his central role in the team's monumental progress in 2005, including the truly outstanding batting average of 83.30 in the Intercontinental Cup.

Perozzi - who must have featured very strongly in the judges' thoughts for female athlete of the year - was handed an achievement award for becoming Bermuda's first ever boxing world champion by defeating Scroller Carrington in Trinidad last September.

High jumper Latroya Darrell, a Carifta Games silver medallist and showjumper Jillian Terceira also received achievement awards.

Bermuda's most senior cricket umpire Roger Dill meanwhile - who is currently at the Under 19 World Cup - received a citation for his steady rise up the ladder of international officials.

Also cited were former top class local athlete Sonya Smith, the late cricketer Edward (Bosun) Swainson and two companies, AON and Cable and Wireless, who have made significant financial donations in the last 12 months.