Siddayao Awards go to 5 youth achievers

MANILA, Philippines - Boxing world champion Eumir Marcial heads the roster of five youngsters to be presented with the Tony Siddayao Awards when the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) honors the top achievers of 2011 on March 3 at the Manila Hotel.

Marcial will be joined by Markie Alcala, Jeron Teng, Rustom Lim and Raymond Debuque in the latest of a long list of past honorees for the award, given to promising young athletes and held in honor of Siddayao, the late Manila Standard sports editor widely considered as the Dean of Philippine sportswriting.

Among the five, Marcial, the 15-year-old pride of Zamboanga, easily stands out, having been the first ever Filipino to win a gold medal in the AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships in Kazakhstan last year.

Marcial and company are among the personalities and entities to be honored by the country’s sportswriting community in its Annual Awards Night presented by Smart.

As guest of honor and keynote speaker, Vice President Jejomar Binay, together with PSA president Rey Bancod of Tempo, will present the coveted Athlete of the Year award to co-winners Nonito Donaire Jr. and Dennis Orcollo.

The formal bash which DZSR Sports Radio 918 will be airing live, is also presented by Harbour Centre, SM Prime Holdings, Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), Milo, Coca-Cola and ICTSI.

Marcial clinched the gold by outpointing Onat Cengiz of Turkey, 9-7, in the finals of the 52 kg. division.

Also winning a gold medal was 18-year-old Raymond Debuque, who accounted for the lone medal the country won in the World Junior and Sub-Junior Powerlifting Championships in Moose Jaw, Canada.

Markie, brother of the country’s leading women’s player Malvinne, primed himself up as the country’s next badminton star by beating a tough foreign field in topping his division in the Li Ning Singapore Youth International Series 2011. He also swept the boys’ under-15 singles crowns in the four-leg Philippine Badminton Ranking System (PBaRS) circuit last year.

Lim, the country’s No. 1 junior rider, bagged the men’s junior bronze medal in the road race of the 18th Asian Youth Cycling Championships in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. It was the Philippines’ first medal in an Asian-level competition since Victor Espiritu’s bronze in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games Men’s Elite. 

Teng, a World Youth Games veteran, distinguished himself as the nation’s top junior player when he shattered all existing high school scoring record upon exploding for a mind-boggling 104 points in leading three-time defending champion Xavier to a 164-74 romp of Grace Christian College in the Tiong Lian Basketball Association tournament.

Past recipients of the Siddayao Awards were Markie’s sister Melvinne, Grandmaster Wesley So, basketball stars Kiefer Ravena and Norberto Torres, golfers Andiue Unson, Carlos Philippe Winsett Palanca, Wolen Superal, Miguel Tabuena, Marcel Puyat and AR Ramos, rider Jerrick Mitra, wushu bet John Keithley Chan and the PH junior wushu team, and the Bacolod Girls softball team.

List of Awardees Athletes of the Year:

Dennis Orcollo, Nonito Donaire Jr.

PSA Presidential Achievement Award:

Juvic Pagunsan

Executive of the year:

Ricky Vargas

Major awardees:

Brian Villoria (pro boxing), Ana Julaton (pro boxing),Donnie Nietes (pro boxing), Mark Anthony Barriga (amateur boxing), Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes (billiards), Rubilen Amit (billiards), Jessie Aligaga (wushu),Dembert Arcita (wushu), Dragon Boat team, Jimmy Alapag (pro basketball), Calvin Abueva (amateur basketball), Bobby Parks Jr.(amateur basketball), Jhonnel Ababa (pro golf), Dottie Ardina (amateur golf), Rupert Zaragosa (amateur golf), Magna Carta (Horse of the Year), Jesse Guce (Jockey of the Year), Kenneth San Andres (motocross), Malvinne Ann Alcala (badminton).

National Sports Association of the year:

Billiards Sports Confederation of the Philippines (BSCP), Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP)

 Mr. Football:

Phil Younghusband, Chieffy Caligdong

Special Citation:

26th Southeast Asian gold medalists