Albania, So head PSA top achievers

MANILA, Philippines - Nineteen athletes who made an impact in their respective fields last year make up the batch of major awardees in the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) 2009 Annual Awards Night presented by Coca-Cola on March 1 at the Manila Hotel.

Women’s boxing champion Annie Albania, chess prodigy Wesley So and pool legends Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante head the roster of personalities to be feted during the annual event.

Albania proved her worth last year by winning a gold medal in both the third Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam and the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Laos, while So was just as impressive after becoming the highest and youngest rated Filipino chess player ever at 15. He also scored stunning victories over GMs Gadir Guseinov and former world championship contenders Vassily Ivanchuk and Gata Kamsky to reach the Last 16 stage in the World Cup Khanty, Russia.

Reyes and Bustamante on the other hand, flashed vintage form as they fashioned out a stirring come-from-behind win in the 2009 World Cup of Pool against the German pair of Thorsten Hohmann and Ralf Souquet.

Fifteen others are also recipients of major awards during the yearly rite also presented by Smart, Pacific Online System Corp., the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Harbour Centre and PCSO.

The list includes the five pro boxers who won world titles last year – Rodel Mayol, Donnie Nietes, Brian Viloria, Nonito Donaire Jr. and Marvin Sonsona – JayJay Helterbrand (pro basketball), Elmer Salvador (men’s golf), Chihiro Ikeda (women’s golf), Arniel Ferreira (athletics), Joel Calderon (cycling), John Baylon (judo), Cecil Mamiit (lawn tennis), Francis Casey Alcantara (lawn tennis) and Jesse Guce (jockey of the year).

Still to be determined is the major award for Horse of the Year.

Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao again leads the awardees to be honored by the country’s oldest media organization composed of editors and reporters from the daily broadsheets and tabloids.

The world’s top pound-for-pound fighter has been named as the PSA Athlete of the Decade.

Side by side with the 31-year-old Pacquiao is the five brilliant ladies who are the recipients of the coveted Athletes of the Year award.

Pool champion Rubilen Amit, long jump queen Marestella Torres and the poomsae team of Rani Ann Ortega, Camille Alarilla and Janice Lagman had been bestowed by the country’s sportswriting fraternity with its highest individual honor.

Helterbrand was the hands down choice as Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) last season, Ferreira re-set his own SEA Games record in hammer throw in Laos, Calderon topped the annual Padyak Pinoy (Tour of Champions), while Baylon won a ninth straight SEA Games gold medal in judo.

Ikeda distinguished herself by topping several international golf tournaments and at the same time, bannered the two gold medal romp of the RP women’s golf team in the SEA Games. Salvador on the other hand, emerged as the year’s RP Open champion and was the Order of Merit winner in the ICTSI-Philippine golf tour.

For his part, Guce was the winningest jockey during the past year, Mamiit won two gold medals in the SEA Games and carried the RP Davis Cup team back to Group 1 of the Asia-Oceania zone, and Alcantara became the first Filipino to win a tennis grandslam when he teamed up with Hsieh Cheng-peng of Chinese-Taipei to bag the 2009 Australian Open boys doubles title.