Welcome to the World Cup of Sportspeople! With the Women's Football World Cup in full swing just finished and the Men's World Cup being a resounding success last year, we'll be following on with a tournament, not of countries, but of the sports-men and women themselves. This contest is designed to select the greatest sportspeople from each continent through a number of rounds, selecting the best of the best, and pitting them together to show who we really think is the best sportsperson of them all!

This is the Voting stage for Asia. We received 96 different nominations in all - taking away our auto-qualifiers, Shane Warne and Margaret Court, this gives us two groups of 47 players. Here's how this stage is going to work.

- You can vote for up to 25 sportspeople, but you must vote for at least 10.
- You must rank your votes in order of preference, either by numbering or by the standard Buzzjack +25, +24 ... +1 (Or down to however many you vote for)
- You must vote for sportspeople from at least three different sports
- You must vote for at least one male and one female sportsperson.
- Each sportsperson has been given a short description of their major achievements to make it easier for you to make up your mind.
- Due to the clerical error regarding the auto-qualifier, only the six sportspeople with the most votes in each group will advance to the Final. The seventh-placed person with the most points across the groups will also advance, whilst the rest of the Top 10 will advance to the Intercontinental Playoffs. Everyone else will be booted out.

Group 2

Shahdid Afridi (Pakistan - Cricket - Holds the record for most sixes in ODI cricket)
Wasmim Akram (Pakistan - Cricket - Second most ODI wickets of all time, first bowler to reach the 500 wicket mark in the 2003 World Cup)
Alyson Annan (Australia - Hockey - Two Olympic golds, two World Hockey Cup golds)
Troy Bayliss (Australia - Motorcycling - Won three Superbike Championships, 52 career wins)
Prince Bira (Thailand - Motor Racing - Entered into 19 Grand Prix races)
Don Bradman (Australia - Cricket - Test batting average of 99.94, cited as the greatest achievement by any sportsman)
Tim Cahill (Australia - Football - All-time leading goalscorer for Australia)
Jelena Dokic (14 career titles, reached the Semi-Finals of Wimbledon in 2000)
Michael Doohan (Australia - Motorcycling - Won five consecutive 500cc World Championships, 54 Grand Prix wins)
Rahul Dravid (India - Cricket - Fourth highest run-scorer in Test cricket, scored nearly 25,000 runs in international cricket)
Roy Emerson (Australia - Tennis - Won 12 Grand Slam titles, 110 career titles)
Cadel Evans (Australia - Cycling - Won Tour de France in 2011, won ProTour series in 2007)
Cathy Freeman (Australia - Athletics - Won 2000 Olympic Gold, two World Championship golds and four Commonwealth golds)
Marco Fu (Hong Kong - Snooker - Won three Asian Games gold medals, won three Ranking tournaments)
Sunil Gavaskar (India - Cricket - Held the record of 34 Test centuries, first Test batsman to score 10,000 runs)
Adam Gilchrist (Australia - Held the ODI record for the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper, first player to hit 100 sixes in Test cricket)
Matthew Hayden (Australia - Cricket - Holds highest Test score by an Australian batsman, second most runs in Test cricket by an opening batsman)
Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka - Cricket - Most Valuable Player in 1996 World Cup, Captained Sri Lanka from 1999 to 2003, said to have 'revolutionised' ODI cricket)
Ding Junhui (China - Snooker - 5 Asian Games golds, highest ranking of #1, won 13 Ranking tournaments)
Shinji Kagawa (Japan - Football - Most appearances and goals by a Japanese player in UEFA competitions, 2012 AFC International Player of the Year)
Sawao Kato (Japan - Gymnastics - 8 Olympic golds, 1974 World Championship gold)
Harry Kewell (Australia - Football - Won PFA Young Player of the Year in 2004, voted as Australia's greatest footballer)
Imran Khan (Pakistan - Cricket - Captain of Pakistan National Team in 1982, made a total of 3,807 runs)
Jahangir Khan (Pakistan - Squash - Won the World Open 6 times, won 555 matches consecutively)
Kosuke Kitajima (Japan - Swimming - Won four Olympic golds, three World Championship golds)
Virat Kohli (India - Cricket - Best ever Test and ODI rating among Indian batsmen)
Brett Lee (Australia - Cricket - Won 2003 World Cup with Australia, 310 Test wickets and 380 ODI wickets)
Chun Lee-Kyung (South Korea - Speed Skating - 4 Olympic golds, 9 World CHampionship golds)
Glenn McGarth (Australia - Cricket - Second most successful fast bowler of all time, holds the record for most wickets in the Cricket World Cup)
Javed Miandad (Pakistan - Cricket - Was captain of the Pakistan team, ranked 44th among the best cricketers of all time)
Li Na (China - Tennis - 28 Career titles, won two Grand Slams)
Kei Nishikori (Japan - Tennis - Reached final of the US Open in 2014, 12 career titles)
Mizuki Noguchi (Japan - Athletics - 2004 Olympic gold, 2003 World Championship silver)
Leander Paes (India - Tennis - One career title, reached the third round of the US Open in 1997)
Sally Pearson (Australia - Athletics - 2012 Olympic gold, two World Championship golds)
Ricky Ponting (Australia - Cricket - Led Australia to victory at the 2003 and 2007 Cricket world cups, named 'Cricketer of the Decade 2000')
Will Power (Australia - Motor Racing - 33 IndyCar wins, 66 podiums)
Pat Rafter (Australia - Tennis - Won US Open twice, 11 career titles)
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka - Cricket - Fastest batsman to reach 12,000 runs in Test cricket, ICC and Test cricketer of the Year in 2012)
Daiya Seto (Japan - Swimming - 2016 Olympic bronze, won 6 World Championship golds)
Harbhajan Singh (India - Cricket - Second highest number of Test wickets by an off-spinner)
Heung-Min Son (South Korea - Football - Top Asian goalscorer in Premier League history, won 2018 Asian Games gold with South Korea)
Yutaka Take (Japan - Horse Racing - Credited with 3,945 wins)
Sachin Tendulkar (India - Cricket - Ranked as second greatest Test batsman of all time, won 2011 World Cup with India)
Ian Thorpe (Australia - Swimming - Five Olympic golds, 13 World Championship golds)
Steve Waugh (Australia - Cricket - Australian captain from 1997 to 2004, most successful Test captain ever)
Mark Webber (Australia - Formula One - 8 World Endurance wins, 9 Grand Prix wins)
Minxia Wu (China - Diving - 5 Olympic golds, 8 World Championship golds)

The deadline is 23:59 Sunday 28th July. Get voting!

Copy-paste list without descriptions:

 

Shahdid Afridi

Wasmim Akram

Alyson Annan

Troy Bayliss

Prince Bira

Don Bradman

Tim Cahill

Jelena Dokic

Michael Doohan

Rahul Dravid

Roy Emerson

Cadel Evans

Cathy Freeman

Marco Fu

Sunil Gavaskar

Adam Gilchrist

Matthew Hayden

Sanath Jayasuriya

Ding Junhui

Shinji Kagawa

Sawao Kato

Harry Kewell

Imran Khan

Jahangir Khan

Kosuke Kitajima

Virat Kohli

Brett Lee

Chun Lee-Kyung

Glenn McGarth

Javed Miandad

Li Na

Kei Nishikori

Mizuki Noguchi

Leander Paes

Sally Pearson

Ricky Ponting

Will Power

Pat Rafter

Kumar Sangakkara

Daiya Seto

Harbhajan Singh

Heung-Min Son

Yutaka Take

Sachin Tendulkar

Ian Thorpe

Steve Waugh

Mark Webber

Minxia Wu

I nominated Don Bradman but he's not on the list. Can you add him on please?

Added him in! Can't think of what had happened there other than maybe I misread it as Jack Brabham and counted it as a nomination for him.

25pts Don Bradman

24 Sachin Tendulkar

23 Ricky Ponting

22 Imran Khan

21 Adam Gilchrist

20 Rahul Dravid

19 Glenn McGrath

18 Kumar Sangakkara

17 Steve Waugh

16 Wasim Akram

15 Matthew Hayden

14 Sunil Gavaskar

13 Ian Thorpe

12 Virat Kohli

11 Cathy Freeman

10 Shahid Afridi

9 Sanath Jayasuriya

8 Jelena Dokic

7 Javed Miandad

6 Brett Lee

5 Roy Emerson

4 Harbhajan Singh

3 Sally Pearson

2 Michael Doohan

1 Sawao Kato

Edited July 24, 20195 yr by King Rollo

25+ Sachin Tendulkar

24+ Don Bradman

23+ Roy Emerson

22+ Ricky Ponting

21+ Glenn McGarth

20+ Ian Thorpe

19+ Steve Waugh

18+ Sawao Kato

17+ Adam Gilchrist

16+ Michael Doohan

15+ Imran Khan

14+ Cathy Freeman

13+ Pat Rafter

12+ Chun Lee-Kyung

11+ Kumar Sangakkara

10+ Minxia Wu

9+ Sunil Gavaskar

8+ Li Na

7+ Heung-Min Son

6+ Matthew Hayden

5+ Will Power

4+ Mark Webber

3+ Tim Cahill

2+ Jelena Dokic

1+ Jahangir Khan

I forgot to include Sunil Gavaskar in my vote. I've changed it now. I hope that's OK.

+25 Cadel Evans

+24 Heung-Min Son

+23 Roy Emerson

+22 Sawao Kato

+21 Don Bradman

+20 Cathy Freeman

+19 Li Na

+18 Shinji Kagawa

+17 Minxia Wu

+16 Jahangir Khan

+15 Chun Lee-Kyung

+14 Daiya Seto

+13 Kosuke Kitajima

+12 Ian Thorpe

+11 Mark Webber

+10 Steve Waugh

+9 Ding Junhui

+8 Will Power

+7 Sally Pearson

+6 Michael Doohan

+5 Sachin Tendulkar

+4 Kumar Sangakkara

+3 Troy Bayliss

+2 Tim Cahill

+1 Pat Rafter

25- Don Bradman

24- Sachin Tendulkar

23- Cathy Freeman

22- Kumar Sangkkara

21- Jahangir Khan

20- Rahul Dravid

19- Ian Thorpe

18- Shahdid Afridi

17- Harbhajan Singh

16- Matthew Hayden

15- Virat Kohli

14- Ricky Ponting

13- Michael Doohan

12- Sunil Gavaskar

11- Sanath Jayasuriya

10- Ding Junhui

9- Roy Emerson

8- Adam Gilchrist

7- Glenn McGarth

6- Steve Waugh

5- Wasim Akram

4- Marco Fu

3- Pat Rafter

2- Troy Bayliss

1- Yutaka Take

 

RESULTS

Finalists:
Don Bradman
Roy Emerson
Cathy Freeman
Ricky Ponting
Sachin Tendulkar
Ian Thorpe



Advance to Playoffs:
Kumar Sangakkara
Steve Waugh
Glenn McGarth
Adam Gilchrist


Eliminated:
(6th: 59pts)
(10th: 46pts)

41 Sawao Kato
40 Rahul Dravid
38 Jahangir Khan
37 Imran Khan
37 Michael Doohan
37 Matthew Hayden
35 Sunil Gavaskar
31 Heung-Min Son
28 Shahid Afridi
27 Chun Lee-Kyung
27 Minxia Wu
27 Li Na
27 Virat Kohli
25 Cadel Evans
21 Wasim Akram
21 Harbhajan Singh
20 Sanath Jayasuriya
19 Ding Junhui
18 Shinji Kagawa
17 Pat Rafer
15 Mark Webber
14 Daiya Seto
13 Will Power
13 Kosuke Kitajima
10 Jelena Dokic
10 Sally Pearson
7 Javed Miandad
6 Brett Lee
5 Tim Cahill
5 Troy Bayliss
4 Marco Fu
1 Yutaka Take
0 Alyson Annan
0 Prince Bira
0 Harry Kewell
0 Kei Nishikori
0 Mizuki Nouguchi
0 Leander Paes

An mix of Australians into the final along with the highest run scorer of all time in cricket, former Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar.

Using the average score per voter, I can announce that the highest-ranked 7th place sportsperson who will also advance directly to the Final is... Manny Pacquiao!

 

Please with that one to be honest, shame no East Asian sportspoeple made it through but this continent was definitely dominated my the Aussies and the cricketers.