Eala leads cast of young PSA awardees

MANILA, Philippines — Rising tennis star Alex Eala leads a compact list of young, promising athletes who will have their share of centerstage in the coming SMC-PSA (Philippine Sportswriters Association) Annual Awards Night.

The 14-year-old Eala along with nine others will be the recipients of the 2019 Tony Siddayao Award during the March 6 gala night at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel.

The award, named after the late former Manila Standard sports editor Antonio ‘Tony’ Siddayao and considered as the dean of Philippine sportswriting, is given to young, emerging athletes 17 years old and below, who excelled in their respective fields the past year.

Eala exactly embodies it after she finished in the top 10 of the world junior rankings by the end of 2019.

Following her maiden grand slam title after winning the Australian Open girls doubles tournament along with Indonesian partner Priska Madelyn Nugroho, the Filipina wonder is now ranked No. 4 in the world.

Bemedalled age-group swimmers Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh and Marc Bryant Dula will share the honor with Eala in the special yearly event by the country’s oldest media organization headed by Tito Talao, sports editor of the Manila Bulletin, and presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, Milo, Cignal TV, Philippine Basketball Association, AirAsia and Rain or Shine.

Completing the Siddayao awardees are the bowling pair of Dale Lazo and Jordan Dinham, karatedo’s Juan Miguel Sebastian, golfer Celine Abalos, Woman FIDE master Antonella Racasa, powerlifter Jessa Mae Tabuan and Eala’s older brother Michael Eala.

Prominent past recipients of the award for young athletes were Grandmaster Wesley So, Kiefer Ravena, Eumir Felix Marcial, Jeron Teng, Markie Alcala, Pauline del Rosario, Aby Arevalo and Maurice Sacho Ilustre.  

On top of the close to 200 awardees to be honored by the country’s sportswriting fraternity are members of the 30th Southeast Asian Games overall champion Team Philippines, which is the consensus choice as the 2019 Athlete of the Year.