WORLD Championship medalists Carlos Yulo and EJ Obiena, along with the Philippine women’s football team, will receive major awards in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association Awards Night on March 6 at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel.
Yulo clinched a silver and bronze in the men’s vault and parallel bars during the 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Liverpool, England while Obiena vaulted to a new Asian mark of 5.94 meters on his way to bagging a historic bronze in the World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
And the Filipinas? They punched a ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup after their third-place finish in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup under coach Alen Stajcic.
Twelve others will also receive major awards in the gala night presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV and backed by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, Milo, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation, Rain or Shine, 1Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, Philippine Basketball Association, OKBet, and ICTSI.
They are boxer Carlo Paalam, jui-jitsu bets Meggie Ochoa and Kimberly Anne Custodio, karateka Junna Tsukii, pool players Rubilen Amit, Carlo Biado, and Johann Chua, weightlifter Vanessa Sarno, the volleyball duo of Jovelyn Gonzaga and Sisi Rondina, Esports organization Blacklist International, jockey Jessie Guca, and champion horse Boss Emong.
They will join the country’s first Olympic gold medalist, Hidilyn Diaz, who will receive the coveted Athlete of the Year award for the second straight time and fourth overall.
Aside from his World Championship stint, Yulo, 22 also won three gold medals in the 9th Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Doha, Qatar, ruling the vault, parallel bars, and floor exercise, while adding a silver in the all-around. The feat enabled him to earn an outright berth in the World Artistic Gymnastics.
He also emerged as the most bemedalled athlete of Team Philippines in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam with five gold medals in artistic all-around, floor exercise, still rings, vault, and horizontal bar.
Obiena also topped a number of pole vault tournaments in Europe and retained his gold in the Vietnam SEA Games by setting a new meet record of 5.46 meters at the My Dinh National Stadium.
Aside from their FIFA World Cup ticket, the Filipinas also topped the Asean Football Federation Women’s Championship with a 3-0 shutout of four-time champion Thailand in the gold medal play.
