Naomi Osaka and Chloe Kim favourites to win Laureus Sports Awards at 2019 event in Monaco
- Japan’s world number one tennis player is up for Breakthrough of the Year while snowboarder up for Action Sports award
- Chinese double amputee who scaled Everest at fifth attempt is among nominees for the best sporting moment of the year
The Laureus Sports Awards take place in Monaco on Monday night and several Asian athletes are in the hunt for the prestigious trophies.
Japan’s world number one tennis star Naomi Osaka leads the way in the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year category where the back to back grand slam winner has the shortest odds to be victorious.
The 21-year-old leads the field ahead of Tour de France winning cyclist Geraint Thomas, trailblazing Spanish motorcyclist Ana Carrasco and Norway’s teenage ski champion Jakob Ingebritsen.
Jamaican sprinter Briana Williams and Italy’s downhill skiing sensation Sofia Goggia are the other nominees in a category for which Osaka is heavy favourite to win at $1.72.
Korean-American Olympic snowboard champion Chloe Kim is even more fancied in the Laureus Action Sportsperson of the Year Award.
The teenage gold medallist at the Pyeongchang Winter Games in South Korea last year is priced at $1.50 against Australian surfer Stephanie Gilmore and two more from Brazil: Maya Gabeira and Gabriel Medina.
Fellow Team USA snowboarder Shaun White and Austrian gold medal winner Anna Gasser also stand in between Kim and the award but she is heavy favourite with the oddsmakers.
