Hong Kong: As the 2017 AFC Annual Awards get set to round off another thrilling year on the continent, we cast our minds back to the 2016 edition in Abu Dhabi when Hong Kong’s Chan Yuen-ting capped a record-breaking season by winning the AFC Women’s Coach of the Year.
The first women to ever guide a men’s team to a league title, Chan would go on to raise the bar further by helming Eastern SC in their – and Hong Kong’s – maiden AFC Champions League campaign earlier this year.
Two months prior to leading Eastern out at Tianhe Stadium alongside Guangzhou Evergrande’s FIFA World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, Chan was mixing it with some of the biggest names in Asian football such as Al Ain’s Omar Abdulrahman and Wu Lei of Shanghai SIPG at the glitzy ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
“I was very surprised when I received the invitation and a bit nervous, but I met a lot of people who are famous in Asia and around the world so it was a great experience,” said Chan.
“It was a very fancy venue and it felt amazing to arrive at the hotel with its beautiful backdrop. The set up was very professional and all the nominees were looked after really well.
“I had never been to Abu Dhabi before so I also found it a very interesting culture.”
Chan travelled to the United Arab Emirates with a team of reporters from Hong Kong and spent the days leading up to the ceremony doing interviews and video shoots around Abu Dhabi.
On the night itself, she chatted with players and coaches from around Asia about their respective experiences from the previous year and the recent improvements in the women’s game, while words of advice from one of China’s biggest stars really stood out.
“I spoke to Wu Lei, who was there with his girlfriend and a lot of friends and family,” recalled Chan.
“He is someone I always see on TV in the Chinese Super League and with the national team.
“He told me that it mustn’t be easy to be a woman coach for a man’s team but advised me to keep going… I thought he was really nice.”
The now 29-year-old, who remains part of Eastern's coaching staff after stepping down from the head coach role earlier in the year, confesses to being taken aback by the fact that everyone at the event knew of her, particularly when one of Guangzhou Evergrande’s women’s team told her she was famous in China.
The biggest surprise, though, would arrive shortly after when Chan’s achievements saw her recognised at the AFC Women’s Coach of the Year.
“I didn’t think I would get the award, so when they announced that I was the best woman coach it was like a dream; I didn’t really have any reaction, I was just happy and surprised,” admitted Chan.
“I never imagined something like this could happen, and I remember getting my timing wrong when going up to the collect my award.
“I should have waited until after they played the [highlights] video but I walked up as soon as they announced my name because I forgot the procedure.”
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors’ Choi Kang-hee would pick up the AFC Coach of the Year, while Abdulrahman was named the AFC Player of the Year and Australia’s Lisa De Vanna the AFC Women’s Player of the Year.
A successful night to bring an end to a memorable year, so how did Chan celebrate her achievments?
“(Laughs)… There was no after party, I was very tired and just went back to the hotel,” added Chan.
“I had received maybe 200 messages from friends, family and media to congratulate me. I tried to reply to everyone that night, so in the end it was three or four in the morning when I finished.”
Photos: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com