Brazilian footballer Ricardinho is among the six shortlisted athletes following his superb performance at the 2014 Blind Football World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, run by the International Blind Sport Federation.

Ricardinho led his nation to its fourth world title during the Championships, scoring a tournament-high six goals in the progress.

Japan's Shingo Kunieda is also included after a phenomenal season on the wheelchair tennis circuit.

Not only did the world number one win all four Grand Slam titles, he also picked up the title at the year-ending NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters for the third successive year.

In fact the three-time Paralympic champion lost just once in countable tournaments across the year, as he cemented his position as arguably the best wheelchair tennis player of all time.

He is joined by fellow wheelchair tennis star Aniek Van Koot who won the women's title at last week's Wheelchair Tennis Masters after beating compatriot and world number two Jiske Griffioen in the final.

Aniek Van Koot took the women's title at the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters and earned a spot on the Allianz Athlete of the Month poll for November 2014 ©Getty Images



Also on the list is Kelsey Diclaudio of the United States after her performance in the inaugural IPC Ice Sledge Hockey Women's International Cup.

Diclaudio was a talisman for the US in this tournament and, incredibly, scored four goals and made one assist in the nation's 5-1 victory over Canada in the final.

This tournament was the first ever sanctioned by IPC Ice Sledge Hockey and marks a commitment to develop the women's game.

Belarusian wheelchair dance sport duo Aliaksei Zukhtsikau and Veranika Kasach make their way onto the shortlist following their dramatic victory at the 2014 IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport European Championships in Lomianki, Poland.

The unranked outsiders beat Slovakia's world champions Helen Kasicka and Peter Vidasic to gold in the combi standard class one to provide one of the biggest shocks of the year on the wheelchair dance sport scene.

Mike Shea rounds off the shortlist after his superb performance at the IPC Alpine Skiing two-day event in Landgraaf, The Netherlands last month.

During the competition, Shea beat team mate and Paralympic champion Evan Strong twice to claim both Europa Cup and World Cup gold in the Para-snowboarding banked slalom event.

The public has until 12pm (CEST) on December 8 to vote for the athlete they want to be Allianz Athlete of the Month for November, with votes cast via the IPC website.

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