2017 Golden Ball Award Winners Announced

Today the Mongolia Football Federation held its annual Golden Ball Award ceremony in Ulaanbaatar. The awards recognize the highest achiever in their particular category. This year's guest host was Louis Saha, former French international who played for clubs like Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspurs, and Lazio. The event began at 6:30 pm local time.

The day's winners are as follows:

Mongolian Male Player of the Year

Nominees:

*Tögöldur Galt-Erchim FC

*Nyam-Osoryn Naranbold-Athletic 220 FC

*Mönkh-Erdengiin Tögöldör-Erchim FC

Winner: Mönkh-Erdengiin Tögöldör

The Erchim FC and Mongolian international scored 10 goals in 17 league matches as the club secured its third straight championship. He also became a regular in the national team setup.

Mongolian Female Player of the Year

Winner: G.Tsolmon

The Arvis FC midfielder helped lead the team to the league championship. She also featured in under-16 World Cup qualification following which she was named best midfielder. Her goal in a 1-1 draw with Guam in the AFC Under-15 Championship on 14 May was the first goal scored by a Mongolian women's national team.

Nominees:

Foreign Player of the Year

Winner: Ishino Shuta

One year after becoming the first foreign player to be named in the League's Best XI, Japanese playmaker Ishino Shuta won the inaugural Foreign Player of the Year award. With 12 goals in 10 league matches, he was a pivotal part of Erchim FC's offense. His 12 goals put him second on the league's scoring chart, only three behind Athletic 220 FC's Nyam-Osoryn Naranbold. He also tallied 10 assists to lead the league in that category.

Nominees:

Goal of the Season

Winner: Purevdorj Enkhbileg

The Goyo FC defender scored the Goal of the Season. The Mongolia youth international scored the most goals in the league from outside of the penalty area with one of those strikes winning the award.

Men's Coach of the Year

Winner: Zorigtyn Battulga

Not only did Battulga lead Erchim FC to its third consecutive league championship, but he also lead the under-19 national squad in AFC Championship qualification. The team's 4-2 victory over Singapore was the nation's first victory at the under-19 level.

Nominees:

Women's Coach of the Year

Winner: B. Bold

Bold is the trainer for Tuul Big Towers club in the Khan-Uul District. He is a well-known coach in that district of Ulaanbaatar. His team won the women's championship this season.

Nominees:

Best Referee

Winner: D.Tumenbayar

Tumenbayar is a long time coach in Mongolia and works to train future generations of referees and and fitness coaches.

Nominees:

League Best XI

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To see a detailed list of results (in Mongolian), visit: https://duguilan.s3.amazonaws.com/infos/2017/12/13/f503c442-e6ee-4b28-86f4-1a68a4be3356_%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%20%D0%B1%D3%A9%D0%BC%D0%B1%D3%A9%D0%B3%20-%20%D0%A8%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B4%D1%8D%D0%B3%20%D1%8D%D1%80%D1%8D%D0%B3%D1%82%D1%8D%D0%B9%20%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%B9%D0%BD%20%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B6%D1%83%D1%83%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B3%D1%87.pdf