Billiards, boxing champs to be feted at PSA Awards

MANILA, Philippines — Two world champions in boxing and billiards lead the list of major awardees to be feted in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Awards Night three weeks from now at the grand ballroom of the Manila Hotel.

Pool icons Rubilen Amit and Carlo Biado, along with boxing champions Melvin Jerusalem and Pedro Taduran are the recipients of major awards from the country’s oldest media organization that honors the best of 2024 during its traditional awards presentation on January 27.

Amit finally won the WPA Women’s World 9-Ball Championship last year, which Biado followed up by copping the WPA Predator World 10-Ball Championship, while Jerusalem reigned as WBC mini-flyweight king, and Taduran regained the IBF minimumweight crown.

Together with them, six others will be given major awards during the star-studded affair co-presented by ArenaPlus, Cignal and Media Quest.

The six include Daniel Quizon (chess), Rianne Malixi (golf), Tachiana Mangin (taekwondo), John Alvin Guce (horse racing), Batang Manda (horse racing) and Benhur Abalos (horse racing).

Gymnast Carlos Yulo, who achieved an unprecedented double gold medal for the Philippines in the Paris Olympics, shines brightest among all stars as the recipient of the 2024 Athlete of the Year, which serves as highlight of the biggest PSA Awards Night ever made possible by major sponsors Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, PLDT/Smart, Sen. Bong Go, and Januarius Holdings, with backing from the PBA, PVL, 1-Pacman Party-List, AcroCity, Rain or Shine and Akari.

Incidentally, both Amit and Biado were one-time recipients of the Athlete of the Year honor in 2009 and 2016, respectively.

Quizon made his mark in chess last year by becoming the country’s 17th Grandmaster during the 45th World Chess Olympiad in Hungary, while Malixi struck in the Women’s Australian Master of the Amateurs, and then achieved back-to-back triumphs in the US Girls’ Junior and the US Women’s Amateur, respectively, to soar at a high No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

For her part, the 16-year-old Mangin bagged the gold in the women’s -49kgs of the World Taekwondo Juniors Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea.

Meanwhile, the trio of Guce, Batang Manda and Abalos made their presence felt in the wonderful world of horse racing.

Guce emerged as Jockey of the Year, Batang Manda as Horse of the Year including winning the rich and prestigious Philracom-PCSO Presidential Gold Cup at Metro Turf Club in Malvar, Batangas, while Abalos won the Horse Owner of the Year award.