Amputee to join PSA awardees

An amputee, whose tale of guts and valor earned him a special place in the world of the disabled, will join the honor roll of sports greats who will be feted by the country’s oldest news organization during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Annual Awards Jan. 11 at the Holiday Inn.

Arnold Balais, 32, took Southeast Asia by storm by winning the gold in the 200m freestyle in a new Far East and South Pacific Games record of 2:45.06 and bronze medals in five other swimming events in the first ASEAN Para Games held Oct. 23-30 in Malaysia.

These feats earned him the PSA citation as the Most Outstanding Athlete with disability, becoming the second athlete from the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled (Philspada) to be honored by the 52-year-old organization.

Balais will plane in from Cebu City, courtesy of Philspada under its president Mike Barredo, to receive the award along with 30 gold medalists from the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games and other sports heroes in the Asian and local circuit.

World billiards champion Efren "Bata" Reyes and Fil-American golfer Dorothy Joy Delasin, who was chosen this year as one of the Ten Oustanding Young Men (TOYM) awardees, are the co-Athletes of the Year.

The Awards Night is sponsored by Photokina Marketing and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Airlines, Hermie Esguerra and AMF Puyat.

Champions in motorsports will be honored this year for their achievements in various categories. The PSA will give long-overdue recognition to 13-year-old Kenneth San Andres, who won the motocross in age group categories during the last six years, and Jojo Silverio, who ruled the Asian Formula 3 Series in the Zhuzhai, China.

The highest honor in motocross racing belongs to Glenn Aguilar, who bagged his sixth straight Rider of the Year award and placed fifth overall in the Asian motocross series in Thailand.

Pepon Marave will also receive a citation for bagging the 2001 Karter of the Year award in the 2001 Shell Karting Super Series.

Mitchell Martinez becomes the first woman boxer to be honored by the PSA for her triumph in the light welterweight class in the first Asian Women’s Boxing Championship.

Esmeralda Tayag, adjudged the best hitter in the last International Softball Federation girls’ junior World Cup for softball, will receive a citation in girls’ softball. Against the best in the world, Tayag batted 20 times in seven games and hit 13 times for a record .650 batting average.

Powerlifting will also be among the honorees this year. Erlina Pecante is the sport’s top athlete in the women’s category for her gold medal finish in the deadlift event in the world championships. The male honoree is world master 1 champion Antonio Taguibao.