ABU DHABI， Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Omar Abdulrahman from Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates was awarded Player of the year by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) here on Thursday.


The Emirati midfielder was recognized for his "pivotal roles" in guiding Al Ain to this season's AFC Champions League final， and his home country to within "touching distance" of a place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia， said the AFC.


Choi Kang-Hee of South Kore's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won the AFC Coach of the Year for the club's victory in the AFC Champions League final against Al Ain on November 26. The Koreans drew 1-1 on Saturday to win 3-2 on aggregate.


Japanese forward Shinji Okazaki has been named the AFC Asian International Player of the Year for helping England's Leicester City to achieve the widely unexpected victory in winning the Premier League.


The AFC Futsal Player of the year 2016 honours went to Aliasghar Hasanzadeh as he led Iran to the championship of this year's AFC Futsal Championship and the third placing of the FIFA Futsal World Cup.


Japan's 18-year-old Ritsu Doan has been awarded the AFC Youth Player of the Year award， honouring his achievements at this year's AFC U-19 Championship. He saw off stiff competition from Iraq's Mohammed Dawood and Rakan Alanaze to be named Asia's finest young star.


Among the awards for ladies， Australia's Caitlin Jade Foord was named the AFC Women's Player of the Year for 2016.


Chan Yuen-ting won the title as AFC's Women's Coach of the Year. Chan was recognized for leading the Eastern Sports Club to both the Hong Kong Premier League and Senior Challenge Shield titles.

A high-speed bullet train runs from Urumqi South Railway Station to Hami city Grossiste Nike Air Max Axis , Xinjiang, in this Nov 16 file photo. [PhotoXinhua]

If confirmed, proposal would expand country's overseas market


China is in discussions with India to help it build the world's second-longest high-speed railroad with a price tag of 200 billion yuan ($32.6 billion), its latest efforts to push for a bigger share of the overseas high-speed market.


The Delhi-Chennai high-speed rail corridor will see trains running at 300 kmh, covering up to 1,754 kilometers.


The railway is proposed to be developed jointly with China, home to the world's longest high-speed rail line - between Beijing and Guangzhou - several Indian media organizations reported over the weekend, citing senior officials with India's Ministry of Railways.


Hindustan Times reported that a high-level Indian railways team would visit Beijing on Monday to complete formalities for the project's feasibility study.


The team, comprising officials of the High Speed Rail Corp and the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, will sign an agreement with Chinese counterparts, the report said.


"The study on the Delhi-Chennai line can be expected to begin early next year", the report said, citing unnamed ministry officials.


China Daily could not independently confirm the news on Monday, as information officials with China's National Railway Administration, China Railway Corp and China Railway Construction Corp all declined to comment.


However, encouraged by the speculation of this big-ticket rail project between China and India, the stock value of rail infrastructure construction companies rose sharply on Monday, with China Railway Construction Corp and China Communications Construction both up by more than 9 percent on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.


The project is part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "diamond quadrilateral" project that aims to build a network of high-speed trains between cities including Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai, Chennai-Kolkata, Kolkata-Delhi and Mumbai-Kolkata, according to Indian media.


Feng Hao, a researcher at the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation at the National Development and Reform Commission, said if the deal is made, the project opens the door for Chinese companies to provide new railway design, tracks made of durable materials, automated signaling for faster trains and modern stations that India’s British-built rail system desperately needs.


India has added 11,000 kms of track in the 67 years since its independence.


China, whose operating rail mileage exceeded 100,000 km by the end of 2013, including 10,000 km of high-speed railroads, is pushing for a bigger share of the lucrative high-speed train market in India and other parts of the world.


"Chinese investment will also help narrow the trade deficit with India, which hit $31 billion in 2013," said Zhao Zhongxiu, a trade professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.


China pledged to offer investm