Roman Kornilov (No. 9) of Dordoi-Dynamo celebrates with his teammate Ablakimov after scoring against Tatung in Lahore. Photo by: AFC/ Stanley Chou

LAHORE: Three players each from Kyrgyzstan ’s Dordoi-Dynamo and Nepal ’s Mahendra Police Club are in contention for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award of the AFC President’s Cup 2007.

Roman Kornilov, who slammed four goals in Dordoi’s 5-0 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Tatung in the group stage, could get the award for the second successive year.

Dordoi goalkeeper Valerii Kashuba, who blocked two penalties in the shoot-out against Ratnam Sports Club in the semi-final, and his teammate Andrey Krasnov are also in the fray for the coveted award.

Mahendra’s Jumanu Rai, captain Ramesh Budhathoki and goalkeeper Ritesh Thapa, who played stellar roles in their team’s progress to the final are also favourites to win this award.

Members of AFC’s Technical Study Group (TSG) will decide the winner after the final on Sunday.

Ratnam’s Ediribandanage Channa is leading the top goalscorers chart with six goals, followed by Regar-TadAZ’s Khurshed Makhmudov, who is one adrift. Channa scored five of his six goals against Bhutan ’s Transport United.

Kornilov and Krasnov, who have scored four goals each so far, could also claim the top goalscorers’ award if they surpass Channa’s tally of six goals in the final.

Defending champions Dordoi lead the standings for the Fair Play Award with an average of 33.71 points, followed by Regar-TadAZ on 33.25 points. Mahendra Police Club, who will take on Dordoi in the final on Sunday, could also wrest this award as they are placed fourth with 31.29 points.

Leading goalscorers till semi-final stage

6 - Ediribandanage Channa (Ratnam Sports Club)

5 – Khurshed Makhmudov (Regar-TadAZ)

4 - Roman Kornilov (Dordoi-Dynamo), Abbos Abdullayev (Regar-TadAZ), Andrey Krasnov (Dordoi-Dynamo)

3 – Maruf Rustamov (Regar-TadAZ), Kouch Sokumpheak (Khemara).