Obiena on spotlight as PSA honors top athletes
FOR a prolific season last year, Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena is set to be crowned as the 2023 Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Athlete of the Year at the Diamond Hotel grand ballroom on Monday, January 29.
The world No. 2 pole vaulter leads a total of 140 awardees in what is considered the biggest Awards Night in the 75-year history of the association.
The country’s top sports officials led by Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Richard Bachmann and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham Tolentino will lead the entire sports community in toasting the athletes, personalities, and entities who did the country proud and did well in their respective fields during the previous year.
Obiena made the podium 15 times out of the 16 tournaments he joined in the outdoor season last year including record-breaking performances in the Phnom Penh Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The 28-year-old aced a new standard of 5.65 meters in the SEA Games last May to clinch his third straight gold and ruled the Asian Games for the first time with a record clearance of 5.90 m last September.
Obiena also became the first Filipino to qualify for the Paris Olympics after clearing the Olympic standard entry height of 5.82 m in Bauhaus-Galan in Sweden last July.
For ending a 61-year title-drought in the Asian Games, meanwhile, Gilas Pilipinas is set to receive the President’s Award, while the Filipinas, the Philippine women’s national football team, who made a historic debut in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, will be recognized with the “Golden Lady Booters” Special Award.
Asiad gold medal winners Margarita “Meggie” Ochoa and Annie Ramirez, on the other hand, lead the recipients of the PSA Major Awards, while the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and Jiu-Jitsu Federation of the Philippines (JJFP) are co-winners of the National Sports Associations (NSAs) of the Year.
Special Awards will also be bestowed to outstanding athletes such as PBA seven-time MVP June Mar Fajardo as “Mr. Basketball,” Creamline stalwart Diana Mae “Tots” Carlos as “Ms. Volleyball,” and Filipinas star forward Sarina Bolden as “Ms. Football,” and net sensation Alex Eala as “Ms. Tennis.”
Gold medalists in the Hangzhou Asiad and Cambodia Southeast Asian Games as well as their counterparts in the Asiad and Asean Para Games banner a long list of awardees to be cited during the formal gathering, which will also hand out the regular Tony Siddayao Awards and the Milo “Gold” Grit, and Glory Award.
Also lending their precious time to join the celebration are two of the country’s top businessmen and sportsmen in SMC President and CEO Ramon S. Ang and First Pacific Company Chairman and CEO Manny V. Pangilinan, who are both going to be honored as Executives of the Year for working hand in hand in the successful hosting of the FIBA World Cup and regaining the valuable basketball gold during the 19th Asiad in Hangzhou, China.
Adding nostalgia for the night is the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to basketball legends Allan Caidic and the late Avelino ‘Samboy’ Lim, and champion coaches Dante Silverio, Joe Lipa and Arturo Valenzona.