HÀ NỘI — The second season of the Victory Cup has arrived, with new candidates and categories up for voting to honour national sportsmen.

The race for the so-called ‘Việt Nam Sport Oscar’ kicked off in Hà Nội. The award is believed to be the biggest national prize for athletes who have competed and brought home success.

“After holding the awards for the first time last year, we saw it having a great impact on our athletes. They have worked harder in training and competed stronger in tournaments,” said Trần Đức Phấn, head of the organising board.

“I myself see this as a positive way to harvest more achievement, as well as see the anticipation in the players as the award has not been announced yet for this year,” said Phấn, who is also the deputy head of the Việt Nam Sports Administration.

“It’s my honour and I am proud to be named as a candidate for the cup. And I am excited to see the final result,” said Hoàng Xuân Vinh, the first national Olympic gold medallist.

“I think this is a great way to encourage and stimulate athletes and coaches, who have contributed a lot to the nation’s glory in international competition. It will also be a meaningful force to push up the sport movement and attract people’s attention to sports,” he added.

Competitors will vie for titles in nine categories, including the best male athlete, best female athlete, best coach, best team and best sport moment. There is one new category for best athletes with disabilities, which organisers really wanted to introduce last year, but failed.

This year marksman Vinh is the top candidate for winning the Best Male Athlete. Apart from winning a gold medal in the men’s 10metres (m) air pistol event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Vinh also bagged a silver medal in the 50m pistol event after winning two bronze medals at the International Sport Shooting Federation’s World Cups earlier this year.

His main rival will be Asian fencing bronze medal holder Nguyễn Thành An, who also won two gold medals in last week’s Southeast Asian Fencing Federation Championship after returning home from the Rio Games.

In the Best Female Athletes, Nguyễn Thị Ánh Viên, who won last year’s award remains on the list this year too. The swimmer, who grabbed four A standards to compete in the Olympics and finished ninth in the 400m individual medley, will vie for the title against Olympian fencer Đỗ Thị Anh, who bagged a gold and a silver at the regional championships last week.

The Best Coach category will see strong candidates, such as Nguyễn Thị Nhung (shooting), Đặng Anh Tuấn (swimming) and Nguyễn Lê Bá Quang (fencing).

In the new pool for Best Athlete with Disability, powerlifter Lê Văn Công seems to have no worthy rival. Công just won a gold medal and set a new record in the men’s under-49kg discipline at the ongoing Paralympics.

Other rivals are swimmer Võ Thanh Tùng and Trịnh Thị Bích Như and track-and-field athlete Cao Ngọc Hùng.

Among the nine categories, the Best Male, Best Female and Lifetime Achievement winners will receive VNĐ50 million (US$2,200) as a bonus in cash. The Best Sport Image winner will be awarded VNĐ10 million, while the rest will get VNĐ30 million.

The awards ceremony will be held in January 2017 in Hà Nội.

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