They call it the Oscars of Sports in Asia. And the winners will be announced on 12 December,2007. Badminton has been nominated in both the Men's and Women's Team of the year and the honour goes to China. They will each be competing for the awards against two other teams from other sports. It seems that only Rudy Hartono (Indonesia) from badminton has been recognized so far. The following report comes from AdoiMagazine.com: Asian Sports Awards ready to roll KUALA LUMPUR: Winners of the inaugural Asian Sports Awards (ASA) will be announced on the 12th of December 2007, its Malaysian representative office, DDB PR stated today. The much anticipated results will be released by the Asian Sports Press Union (ASPU) in collaboration with Stropt & Sports Limited (HK). Speaking on behalf of the ASA team, Project Director and General Manager of DDB PR, Shehara de Silva said, “This has been a very fulfilling and inspiring project, to be able to promote the iconic values of the greatest and best Asian sporting heroes”. DDB PR, acting as the Malaysian representative office for Stropt & Sports Limited led this project and handled everything from concept and secretariat management to media relations. Rapp Collins Malaysia was involved in brand ID and web presence. To date, the ASA has received extensive coverage both locally and in the Asian region. Media exposure extended to countries such as China, India, Nepal and Singapore. Billed as the Oscars of Sports and fashioned on the famed Laureus Awards, the ASA is a collaborative effort between Stropt & Sports Limited and the Asian Sports Press Union (ASPU), which has affiliate offices in 31 Asian countries. The ASA project was developed with a dream to bind Asia together through a common agenda to build sports celebrity role models and brand ambassadors. A galaxy of all time Asian sporting greats was recognized earlier in July this year. The inductees included names such as former Japanese football superstar, Hidetoshi Nakata, former squash world number one, Jahangir Khan, eight-times All England Badminton champion, Rudy Hartono and Indian tennis legend, Vijay Amritraj. The six main categories of awards are the Asian Sportsman of the Year, Asian Sportswoman of the Year, Asian Team of the Year (Men), Asian Team of the Year (Women), Lifetime Achievement Award and Humanitarian Award. The nominees of the Asian Sports Awards are: Asian Sportsman of the Year: Liu Xiang (Athletics, China) Ahn Hyun Soo (Short Track Speed Skating, Korea) Mohammad Yousuf (Cricket, Pakistan) Asian Sportswoman of the Year: Nicol Ann David (Squash, Malaysia) Paweena Thongsuk (Weightlifting, Thailand) Jin Sun-Yu (Short Track Speed Skating, Korea) Asian Team of the Year (Men): Lee Ho-Suk, Ahn Hyun Soo, Seo Ho Jin, Song Suk Woo (Short Track Speed Skating, Korea) Fu Hai Feng and Cai Yun (Badminton, China) Daniel Lim, Heng Boon Hian and Aaron Kong (Bowling, Malaysia) Asian Team of the Year (Women): Nor Hashimah Ismail, Azlina Arshad, Nor Iryani Azmi (Lawn Bowls, Malaysia) Gao Ling and Huang Sui (Badminton, China) Korean National Handball Team (Handball, Korea) Vice President of the ASPU, George Das said that the evaluation process for the Humanitarian and Lifetime Achievement awards is still ongoing and will only be announced on a later date. “Although we have received numerous nominations for both the categories, these are two very influential awards which requires proper and careful consideration. The judges are required to carefully vet through each nominee to ensure that the final list is justified”, he explained.
personally, i think the most outstanding sportsmen/women this year have been ... Ahn Hyun Soo - this guy's skating is amazing, i never realised how dominant he is ... Nicol David - amazing consistency, though she's lost a few games recently but definitely a class act. Gao Ling / Zheng Bo - i think they've outperformed everyone else on the badminton circuit this year, they would get my vote ahead of CY/FHF.
I don't quite get Fu / Cai's nomination??? Not Recent Asian Games Champs & Not 2007 World Champs either. I'll be extra surprised if they win.
I think for Asian's Sportsman of the Year category, no doubt Liu Xiang is the strongest candidate to grab the award. This Chinese hurdler had created huge achievement so far : - 2002 Busan Asian Games Gold Medalist - 2004 Athens Olympic Gold Medalist - 2006 Doha Asian Games Gold Medalist - 2007 World Champion in Osaka, Japan - World Record Holder of 110m Men's hurdles, 12.88 seconds. Liu Xiang is very famous now not only in Asia but globally.
The nominees of the Asian Sports Awards are: Asian Sportsman of the Year: Liu Xiang (Athletics, China) Ahn Hyun Soo (Short Track Speed Skating, Korea) Mohammad Yousuf (Cricket, Pakistan) Asian Sportswoman of the Year: Nicol Ann David (Squash, Malaysia) Paweena Thongsuk (Weightlifting, Thailand) Jin Sun-Yu (Short Track Speed Skating, Korea) Asian Team of the Year (Men): Lee Ho-Suk, Ahn Hyun Soo, Seo Ho Jin, Song Suk Woo (Short Track Speed Skating, Korea) Fu Hai Feng and Cai Yun (Badminton, China) Daniel Lim, Heng Boon Hian and Aaron Kong (Bowling, Malaysia) Asian Team of the Year (Women): Nor Hashimah Ismail, Azlina Arshad, Nor Iryani Azmi (Lawn Bowls, Malaysia) Gao Ling and Huang Sui (Badminton, China) Korean National Handball Team (Handball, Korea) just do some PAW............ as for Asian Men Team, need some time to recheck, as FHF & CY didnt do so well in 2007...... any other nominations coming up?
I guess none of you people recognize what a prolific cricketer Mohammad Yusuf is. He is as deserving as his fellow (and more illustrious) nominees. As for the individual women's award, not winning the 2007 British Open or World Championship could work against Nicol David
it's because they've not been that outstanding this year...GL and ZB deserve it more than them but of course no mixed team awards....Nicol David will win it definitely...the best female squash player in Asian history....proud to be malaysian...
The nominees of the Asian Sports Awards are: Asian Sportsman of the Year: Liu Xiang (Athletics, China) Ahn Hyun Soo (Short Track Speed Skating, Korea) Mohammad Yousuf (Cricket, Pakistan) He's just plain good.......and besides, I've never even heard of the other two nominees. Asian Sportswoman of the Year: Nicol Ann David (Squash, Malaysia) Paweena Thongsuk (Weightlifting, Thailand) Jin Sun-Yu (Short Track Speed Skating, Korea) She's good, a bit inconsistent this year, but managed to win 8 titles, that's more than KKK-TBH.................. Asian Team of the Year (Men): Lee Ho-Suk, Ahn Hyun Soo, Seo Ho Jin, Song Suk Woo (Short Track Speed Skating, Korea) Fu Hai Feng and Cai Yun (Badminton, China) Daniel Lim, Heng Boon Hian and Aaron Kong (Bowling, Malaysia) I was a bit unsure about this category. The Chinese weren't at their best..........the Malaysians are pretty good, but not many titles either. I won't be surprised if either wins! Asian Team of the Year (Women): Nor Hashimah Ismail, Azlina Arshad, Nor Iryani Azmi (Lawn Bowls, Malaysia) Gao Ling and Huang Sui (Badminton, China) Korean National Handball Team (Handball, Korea) Gao Ling and Huang Sui definitely. Though I haven't seen Huang Sui on the circuit lately.