Six vie for PSA major awards

The two contenders for the PSA Athlete of the Year award – Fil-Am golfer Dorothy Delasin and boxer Malcolm Tunacao – lead an array of aspirants for the major awards in the annual Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Awards Night set Jan. 18 at the Holiday Inn Manila.

Buenaventura "Bong" Villamayor, who became the country’s fourth grandmaster, pro cager Danny Ildefonso and racing champion Angelo Barretto spearhead the crack list of awardees whose exploits in their respective disciplines stood out in a year when the Filipinos came home empty-handed from an Olympic participation for the first time in 12 years.

Others vying for the major awards are Angeline Dumapong, the physically-challenged powerlifter from the Ifugao Province who won a bronze medal in her event at the 11th Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia, and amateur cager Ren-Ren Ritualo.

President Joseph Estrada has been invited to grace the rites and present the prestigious PSA Athlete of the Year award, which is being disputed by Delasin and Tunacao, the World Boxing Council flyweight champion. The affair is sponsored by Red Bull and Agfa and supported by McDonald’s.

Delasin and Tunacao are automatically qualified to be recipients of the major award.

Citations will also be given to the deserving athletes, teams and organizations in recognition of their achievements both in local and international sporting front and their contribution to the development of sports.

Villamayor’s feat was most impressive because he did it in just two months, clinching his third and final GM result in July in the Equitable Card Invitational Classic here.

On his way to his dream title, Villamayor finished tied for first in the Vung Tau Intourco GM Circuit to gain his first GM norm, then scored seven of nine in the Category 10 event to tie for first again in the Zone 3.2A Zonal eliminations, also in Vungtau, Vietnam to gain his second GM norm.

Ildefonso, whose season-long solid game enabled him to beat Kenneth Duremdes of Alaska for the MVP plum in the PBA and who helped steer San Miguel to two championships last year, is the hands-down choice for the top plum in pro caging, and so is Ritualo, who powered his Welcoat team to two victories last season.

Dumapong, on the other hand, had a lift of 97.5 kgs in the women’s 82.5 kg category and although she failed on her second try at 107.5 kg, she succeeded on her third lift at 110 kg to win the bronze.

The 31-year-old Barretto won thrice and landed on the winner’s podium seven times in the tough European Endurance Touring Car Circuit as he continued to put the country in the world racing stage despite the absence of government support.