MANILA, Philippines — A special award to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and citations to 18 personalities and entities will be handed out in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Awards Night slated next week at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel.
The country’s Grand Old League is being recognized by the country’s oldest media organization for reaching a great milestone of celebrating its 100th season as one of the country’s cradle of sporting heroes.
Meanwhile, the dragon boat national team, Philippine Volcanoes, weightlifter Angeline Colonia, jiu-jitsu bet Isabella Joseline Butler, powerlifter Regie Ramirez, and grand slam winner Creamline are some of last year’s achievers to be cited in the January 27 grand affair co-presented by ArenaPlus, Cignal and MediaQuest.
Gymnastics wonder boy Carlos Yulo leads the 2024 honor roll as the deserving choice as Athlete of the Year.
Backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, PLDT/Smart, Sen. Bong Go and Januarius Holdings, with support provided by the PBA, PVL, 1-Pacman Party-list, Rain or Shine, Akari and AcroCity, 12 others will be cited by the country’s sportswriting community for their respective achievements in the year just passed.
The list includes Johann Chua and Albert James "AJ" Manas (billiards), Carl Eldrew Yulo (gymnastics), Ruelle Canino (chess), Kheith Rhynne Cruz (table tennis), Marc Dylan Custodio (bowling), Mark John Lexer Galedo (cycling), Lovely Inan (weightlifting), Philippine baseball team, Centennial 7 (sailing), Jessa Mae Tabuan (powerlifting) and Ramon "Tats" Suzara (volleyball).
The Filipino paddlers had a dominant performance in the ICF Dragon Boat World Championship in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, where they emerged overall champion; while the Philippine Volcanoes scored a twin kill in the men’s and women’s division of the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy in Nepal.
Colonia bagged gold medals in the snatch and total lift in the 45kg class of the International Weightlifting Federation World Junior Championships in Spain; Butler did the same in the 18-under -57kg class of the JJIF World Championships in Heraklion Greece; and Ramirez along with Tabuan also went home with gold medals in their respective campaigns in the World Open Equipped Powerlifting Championships in Iceland and World Juniors Powerlifting Championships in Malta.
The Cool Smashers, meanwhile, underscored their dominance as the top women’s volleyball team in the country by sweeping all three tournaments of the Premier Volleyball League; even as Yulo had another fruitful gold harvest in the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Uzbekistan, the Pacific Rim Championship in Cali, Colombia, and Hong Kong Invitational.
Canino topped the National Women’s Championship and helped Team Philippines snare the Group B gold in the Budapest Chess Olympiad; Inan scored a couple of golds in the (IWF) World Juniors Championships in Spain; and Cruz provided Philippine table tennis a new milestone in ruling the Under-19 girls’ singles division of the WTT Youth Contender Westchester in New York and sweeping all medal classifications from different events in the US Table Tennis Open in Las Vegas.
Over in Vietnam, Chua ruled the Hanoi Open 9-Ball Championship and played a key part in Team Asia beating Team Europe for the inaugural Reyes Cup; while Manas topped the 99 Billiards Club Tournament in the same country.
Custodio emerged champion in the 10th DIBC-Delta Open Bowling Tournament in Dubai and was a major part of Team Philippines’ triumph in the team of four event in the Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championships in Bangkok, Thailand; Galedo also won the title in the Tour of Guam at age 39; and the Filipino batters scored a five-peat in the East Asia Baseball Cup held in Clark, Pampanga.
Suzara, for his part, was elected president of the Asian Volleyball Confederation and appointed as executive vice president of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball; while Centennial 7 became the first Philippine boat and a first all-Filipino crew to compete in the prestigious Sydney to Hobart yacht race.