High esteem: Athlete Nguyen Thi Huyen seen running at June's Southeast Asian Games. Huyen is one of the nominees for the Victory Cup Award which was launched yesterday in Ha Noi. — Photo vtc.vn

HA NOI (VNS) — The Victory Cup Award to honour Vietnamese sportsmen was launched yesterday in Ha Noi.

"It is the first, but will be one of the biggest sporting events of the year," said Hoang Ngoc Huan, a member of the organisation.

"The event is expected to be held annually, in which athletes' achievements are highlighted through mass media and voted upon by the country's fans and sport managers," said Huan, general director of the Viet Nam Cable Television Company, which is hosting the event.

Competitors will vie for titles in eight classes, including best male athlete, best female athlete, best coach, best team and best sport moment.

The organisers and a jury have nominated 33 nominees, including swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, gymnast Phan Thi Ha Thanh, runner Nguyen Thi Huyen and chess master Le Quang Liem for this year's awards.

"Previously, there were several awards to honour athletes and coaches, though they are no longer distributed. But they were not like this. In the Victory Cup Award there is only one winner in each category. It is like an Oscar award in sports," said Nguyen Duc Hung, general director of Sport 24h Joint Stock Company, a co-organiser of the event.

There will be two rounds of voting. The winners will be those who receive the most votes through messages by fans and judges.

"We hope that the award receives strong support from people and will push athletes to try their best for victory in the future," said Hung.

"I, myself, feel happy with the launch of the award, which recognises our efforts and contributions to the nation. It encourages not only me, but also other sports people to train harder and achieve higher results in competitions," three-time Southeast Asian Games winner Huyen told Viet Nam News.

The awards ceremony will be held on January 15 in Ha Noi.

The public can find more information about the awards at cupchienthang.vn, vtvcab.vn and thethao24.tv. — VNS