FOR their sparkling exploits in their respective sports, tennis sensation Alex Eala and Filipinas striker Sarina Bolden are the joint Athletes of the Year of the inaugural Women in Sports Awards to be held tonight at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
A winner of the Australian and French Open junior doubles plums and a US Open junior singles crown in 2022, the globe-hopping Eala highlighted her flourishing career with a pair of bronze medals in the women’s singles and mixed doubles in the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games last October.
The pretty 18-year-old southpaw has also won four titles and two runner-up finishes as a pro on the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour and currently boasts a career-high of No. 176 in ITF women ratings.
Bolden has been the offensive linchpin of the Filipinas over the last six years, appearing in 44 international matches and scoring 28 goals since making her debut with the national women’s football team in 2018.
In 2021, Bolden powered the Filipinas in securing their first FIFA World Cup appearance by reaching the semifinals of the AFC Women’s Cup in India in January then led them to the AFF Women’s Championship at the Rizal Memorial Stadium a few months later.
In the country’s World Cup debut, she scored the “shot” heard around the world, a hammering header to lift the Filipinas to a monumental 1-0 upset of the New Zealand Ferns in front of a stunned hometown crowd at the Sky Stadium in Wellington on July 25, 2023.
“The decision to award both Eala and Bolden as Athletes of the Year was quite unanimous. Both are deserving of recognition for not only making us proud of their achievements but also for serving as positive role models as Filipina athletes,” said PSC Commissioner Bong Coo.
The two outstanding athletes will headline tonight’s grand program jointly organized by the Philippine Commission on Women in partnership with the Philippine Sports Commission and backed by Milo, CEL Logistics and Wrist Pod.
A total of 46 major awards will also be given to athletes in various disciplines, five Flame Awards and seven Lifetime Achieve Awards, which will be given to past athletic performers whose sterling legacies are worth recalling until today.
The Lifetime Achievement Awardees are bowler Olivia “Bong” Coo, track and field standouts Elma Muros-Posadas, Erlinda Lavandia and the late Lydia de Vega, back-to-back Asian Games 100-meter sprint queen, powerlifter Adeline Dumapong and gymnast and taekwondo jin Bea Lucero-Lhuillier.
