THE country’s top players in basketball and football will be honored in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Annual Awards Night on March 6 at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel.
Barangay Ginebra guard Scottie Thompson will receive the award for pro basketball while Sarina Bolden receives the same honor in women’s football.
Thompson, 29, the reigning PBA MVP, is in great company. Previous winners of the Mr. Basketball Award the past two decades include the likes of June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos, Mark Caguioa, JayJay Helterbrand, Jimmy Alapag, James Yap, Asi Taulava, and Willie Miller, among others.
Bolden, the 25-year-old midfielder of Team Filipinas, will be the first to be cited as Ms. Football by the country’s oldest media organization headed by Rey Lachica, sports editor of Tempo.
Thompson and Bolden are in the long list of top achievers in 2022 led by Athlete of the Year Hidilyn Diaz who will be feted in the traditional gala night presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV and backed by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, Milo, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation, Rain or Shine, 1Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, Philippine Basketball Association, OKBet, ICTSI, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
Last season indeed was a banner year for Thompson and Bolden.
The combo guard out of University of Perpetual Help won his first MVP trophy in Asia’s pioneering pro league after playing a major role in Ginebra retaining its Governors’ Cup championship.
The pride of Davao was also adjudged the Finals MVP during the Kings’ title series against the Meralco Bolts and also emerged as the Best Player of the Conference for the first time.
In between, Thompson also made himself available for the Philippine men’s basketball team that played in the windows of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
Bolden was instrumental in Team Filipinas punching a historic ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time by scoring the winning penalty against Chinese-Taipei 4-3 in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women’s Asia Cup.
She also scored the most number of goals for the women’s team that bagged the bronze in the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, and did the same in the Asean Football Federation Women’s Championship, where the country broke through for the first time after a 3-0 shutout of four-time champion Thailand in the gold medal match.
