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PHUKET, Thailand : India's Jeev Milkha Singh won another accolade to boost his growing stature when he was named the Johnnie Walker Asian Player of the Year for 2006.
Thai star Chinarat Phadungsil picked up the Asian Rising Star Award while Spaniard Alvaro Quiros earned the Young Player of the Year Award.
Singh enjoyed a terrific season in 2006, winning four times around the world.
After a barren seven-year run, he claimed victory at the Volvo China Open before finishing his season strongly by winning the European Tour's Volvo Masters in Spain and securing back-to-back triumphs in Japan.
He sweetened his year by lifting his first Asian Tour's Order of Merit crown and rose to 37th place in the world rankings, which earned him a start in the US Masters.
Chinarat, 18, is one of Asia's most promising talents.
Last year, he triumphed at the Crowne Plaza Open in China, just a year after becoming the youngest winner in the region when he lifted the Double A International Open on home soil while still an amateur.
Quiros is among a band of emerging young Spaniards and he showed his mettle by winning the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.
The awards, handed out Saturday night on the sidelines of the Johnnie Walker Classic being played here, were created more than a decade ago.
The other players nominated for the Asian Player of the Year were South Korea's Yang Yong-eun and Prom Meesawat of Thailand.
- AFP
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