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Wu Lei was awarded the 2018 Chinese Player of the Year
On 20th, February, Wu Lei, the 26-year-old Chinese striker, was given the 2018 Chinese Player of the Year award by the two hosts, Titan Sports and Tencent Interactive Entertainment. It is the second edition of the prize. Wu Lei was given 639 points by voters and lead the second by a massive 400-odds points advantage. Since the LaLiga season is still going on, Wu Lei is not eligible to attend the ceremony. Luo Ming, the chief editor of Titan Sports App and the judge in Ballon D’or representing Chinese media, will present the trophy to Wu Lei in RCDE Stadium.
In the past year, Wu Lei scored 27 goals and made 8 assists in 29 appearances of the 2018 CSL season. During the season he surpassed Han Peng to become the all-time best scorer in CSL history, and become the 2nd most prolific scorer in Chinese professional league history. With the 27 goals he ended the 7-year dominance by foreign players in the CSL best scorer ranking and helped Shanghai SIPG to win the 1st league champion in the team’s history. In the national team, Wu Lei experienced the most prolific year, during which he scored 4 goals in 9 appearances. In the Asian Cup last months, Wu Lei scored 2 goals and helped China to advance to the quarter-final. After the Asian Cup, Wu Lei was signed by La Liga side Espanyol. In his home debut for Espanyol, he won a penalty for his new team to equalize. He started for Espanyol for the first time last weekend, 2857 days since the last time a Chinese player started in the top 5 European leagues.
Chinese Player of the Year, a serial award brand, was initiated by Titan Sports Media Group and it is co-hosted with Tencent Interactive Entertainment as strategic partnership. It is aimed at selecting the best Chinese players of the year through votes of more than a hundred judges of reputable media outlets, both Chinese and international.