North Korea's Ri wins inaugural Asian women's award

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Reuters) North Korean captain Ri Kum-suk became the inaugural winner of the Asian Women's Player of the Year Award today.

The 29-year-old striker beat Collette McCallum of Australia and Japan's Homare Sawa to the award at Tuesday's ceremony attended by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

Ri led the North Korean team to the quarter-finals of this year's Women's World Cup in China and is a member of the Olympic team who have qualified for next year's Beijing Games.

''The reason I was able to win this award was because of our great leader Kim Jong-il and the support of the Korean people,'' she told a news conference.

REUTERS AB RK2038