More than 47,000 votes have been cast for the Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards, as the race to select the city's best athletes hots up. As of Monday, the number of online votes was already 10,000 more than the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong received for the 2005 showpiece. The deadline for voting is next Wednesday. The annual 'sporting Oscars' honours Hong Kong athletes in six categories, and offers total prize money of HK$506,000. The public is urged to vote for four out of six categories - Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards, Hong Kong Junior Sports Stars Awards, Hong Kong Sports Stars Award for Team Only Sport, and Hong Kong Sports Stars Award for Team Event. Most of the 2006 winners were given the nod again this year. Also, as many as 33 Doha Asian Games medallists received nominations. The awards will select eight sports stars and six junior sports stars from 46 and 37 nominees, respectively. The athlete with the most votes among the eight sports stars will receive a special prize - Best of the Best Award. He or she will receive HK$80,000 in prize money. So far, cyclists and 2006 Asian Games gold medallists, Wong Kam-po and Cheung King-wai, are in the lead for the sports stars awards. Other hopefuls include Asian Games windsurfing champion Chan King-yin, squash player and Doha silver medallist Rebecca Chiu Wing-yin, swimmers Hannah Wilson and Sze Hang-yu, and rower Lee Ka-man. Body builder and gold medallist, Chan Yun-to, said he only had a 50 per cent chance of winning an award. 'I have confidence in myself, but the other nominees are all very strong. There is some major competition,' Chan said. Wushu star Cheng Chung-hang, Ma Man-sum (karatedo) and Chiu Chung-hei (table tennis) are currently leading the race for the junior awards. Vote for your favourite athlete before next Wednesday at sportstar2006.hkolympic.org. Five lucky voters will each win a HK$1,000 adidas cash coupon. There is also a Guess-the-Winners Contest for the sports stars awards category. The winners will receive Samsung electronics valued at more than HK$30,000.
