Pacquiao, Diaz top Yahoo's most searched athletes in Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — Boxing legend turned presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao topped the list of most searched athletes of the year on Yahoo according to their year-ender review released this week.
Pacquiao, who recently retired, made waves with his final boxing match of his career as he lost to Yordenis Ugas last August.
Second only to boxing's lone eight division world champion is Hidilyn Diaz who gave the Philippines its first-ever gold medal in Olympics history.
Diaz topped the competition in the women's 55kg division in the Tokyo Olympics back in July after lifting an Olympic record of 127kg in the Clean and Jerk.
She also set a new record in total with her 224kg lift.
After Diaz, it's basketball phenom Kai Sotto who's currently in Australia playing in the National Basketball League with the Adelaide 36ers.
While an injury has derailed Sotto's pro debut with Adelaide, Filipinos continue to hang on to every update on the 7'3" cager.
Fourth on the list is billiards legend Efren Bata Reyes who continued to be popular for Filipino sports fans despite not having any major competitions amid the pandemic.
Soon-to-be Japanese citizen Yuka Saso comes in 5th as she made headlines this year, winning the US Women's Open and having an impressive debut in the Summer Games for the Philippines.
Teen tennis sensation Alex Eala is 6th on the list with an eventful 2021 season.
In January, Eala won her first-ever professional title in 15K tournament in Mallorca.
She also won her second career Grand Slam Girls Doubles title in Rolland Garros.
Also in the list are Tokyo medalists Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, and Eumir Marcial who came in 7th, 9th, and 10th, respectively.
Completing the list at the 8th spot is Carlos Yulo who, after missing out on a medal in Tokyo, was successful in a redemption campaign at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.
Yulo finished with two medals, a gold in vault and a silver in parallel bars.
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