WUSHU star Aung Sithu and archer Aung Ngeain have been rewarded for their stellar performances in 2008, taking out the title of Myanmar’s best sportsman and woman respectively.

Rowing and canoeing coach warrant officer Win Pae was given the prize for coach of the year, while footballer Yarzar Win Thein got the title of honourable sportsman of the year.

The winners were selected by the Myanmar Olympic Committee (MOC) in the collaboration with Myanmar Sportswriters Association (MSA) and were presented at Yangon’s Chatrium Hotel on May 9.

Athletes from the nine sports federations – wushu, archery, football, volleyball, billiards and snooker, track and field, traditional sports, rowing and karate – that competed at international events in 2008 were considered for the top prizes.

The judges considered the athlete’s conduct, as well as their performances, when selecting the winners, according to Dr Tin Tun Oo, the chairman of the MSA.

“Besides the competition results, we had to take into account the athlete’s character and how well they obeyed rules and regulations, to pick the best athletes of the year,” he said.

The best sportsman title capped an impressive year for Aung Sithu, who competes in the wushu’s taolu discipline. In 2008 he won gold medals at both the World Sports for All Games and the 7th Asian Wushu Championships.
He said the recognition would encourage him to focus on success December’s SEA Games.

“This title just makes me more hungry for success in Laos, at the SEA Games,” Aung Sithu told The Myanmar Times. He added that the secret to his success was focusing full time on wushu and not drinking alcohol.

The best sportswoman of the year, archer Aung Ngeain, won a combined total of four gold, eight silver and six bronze medals at international competitions in 2008.

The highlight of the year for Aung Ngeain came at the 3rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Archery Championships, held in Manila, when she defeated Filipino archer Jennifer Chan, who has dominated regional archery events for the past 20 years.

She said disappointment at the previous SEA Games, in December 2007, had inspired her to achieve success in 2008.

“At the 24th SEA Games [in Thailand], I had to be satisfied with a bronze in the women’s compound event and was disappointed because I expected to get a gold medal. At that time I considered retiring from the sport completely. But then I decided to take some positives from my loss and focused harder than usual,” Aung Ngeain said.

Warrant officer Win Pae’s charges achieved success at several events in 2008, including two gold medals and one silver in the Dragon Boat category at 1st Asian Beach Games and one gold at the Princess Sirindhorn‘s Cup.

Yarzar Win Thein was also recognised for his contribution in 2008, when he was adjudged the Myanmar League’s best player. He was also the player of the tournament at the Grand Royal Challenge Cup, held in Yangon in November.

Yarzar Win Thein’s performances at the AFF Suzuki Cup in December were one of the few bright spots for Myanmar in what was an otherwise disappointing tournament.

Aung Sithu and Aung Ngeain received K2 million for being crowned the year’s best sportspeople, while Win Pae and Yarzar Win Thein received K1 million and K600,000 respectively from the MOC and MSA.