Chelsea Ladies' Ji So-Yun rivals Premier League duo for award
Tuesday 3 November 2015 16:18, UK
Chelsea Ladies forward Ji So-Yun has been shortlisted alongside two male Premier League footballers for an Asian Football Award at Wembley Stadium next month.
Supported by the FA, The 2015 Asian Football Awards takes place on November 19, and Ji is vying for the South East Asian Player accolade with Southampton's Maya Yoshida and Swansea's Ki Sung-Yeung.
Signed from Japanese side INAC Kobe Leonessa after impressing against Chelsea in the 2013 Intercontinental Women's Club Championship, Ji has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the English game.
The 24-year-old was instrumental in Chelsea's second place finish in last year's FA WSL1, which saw the Blues qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time in their history.
Dubbed 'The Korean Messi', Ji's form saw her land the Player of the Year prize at the 2014 FA Women's Football Awards, before later being named by her fellow professionals as the PFA Women's Player of the Year.
Ji carried that sparkling form through to this season, helping Chelsea to an historic double and scoring the only goal of the game in the Women's FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
A separate Woman in Football category sees Fulham Ladies duo Monica Sharma and Tanvie Hans shortlisted alongside London Bari skipper Sabah Mahmood and West Ham Ladies and Indian national team goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan.
Sky Sports News HQ's Dharmesh Sheth co-hosts the event and is shortlisted for the Media Award - one of 11 accolades being presented on the night.
Kelly Simmons - FA head of women's football and director of the national game - is part of a judging panel which includes Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe, QPR boss Chris Ramsey and former England internationals Graeme Le Saux and Steve Coppell.
