Eala, Casimero, Taduran honored in virtual PSA Annual Awards Night
AYOUNG tennis prodigy and two world champions make up the short list of major awardees to be recognized during the San Miguel Corp. (Smc)-philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) virtual Awards Night on March 26.
Alex Eala and world boxing titleholders Johnriel Casimero and Pedro Taduran made it to the 2020 honor roll of the country’s oldest media organization headed by President Tito Talao, sports editor of the Manila Bulletin.
The traditional Awards Night will be held virtually for the first time in PSA history at the TV5 Media Center. The event is co-presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV, with 1-Pacman Party-list and Rain or Shine as major backers.
Lady golfer Yuka Saso was the unanimous choice for 2020 Athlete of the Year, an award solely bestowed by the 72-year-old media group.
Eala, 15, was among the few bright spots for Philippine sports during the pandemic after she bagged her maiden grand slam juniors title at the Australian Open girls’ doubles tournament together with Indonesian partner Priska Madelyn Nugroho. They beat the pair of Ziza Falkner of Slovenia and Matilda Mutavdzic of Great Britain in the final.
The charming teener later reached the semifinals of the French Open girls singles, but lost to hometown bet Elsa Jacquemot.
Her strong showing in both grand slam tournaments sent Eala to as high as No. 2 in the girls’ world rankings by the end of the year.
A full scholar at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain, Eala has turned pro and campaigned in various tournaments in Europe that allowed her to achieve a current Women’s Tennis Association singles ranking of No. 763.
Like Eala, Casimero also made noise last year by successfully retaining his World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight title against Duke Micah of Ghana at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.
Originally set to fight unbeaten Japanese champion Naoya Inoue in a title unification match, the 31-year-old pride of Ormoc City saw his dream match go up in smoke after it was twice postponed because of the pandemic.
Micah, a last-minute replacement, then bore the brunt of Casimero’s wrath as the Filipino destroyed the 2012 Olympian in just three rounds to retain his 118-pound belt.
Taduran also kept his International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight crown as he settled for a fourth round technical draw against Mexican challenger Daniel Valladares in Guadalupe, Mexico, shortly before the outbreak of Covid-19.
It was the first title defense for Taduran, who scored a fourth round stoppage of fellow Filipino Samuel Salva in September 2019 to win the 105-pound version of the IBF.
The 24-year-old native of Libon, Albay, however, lost his title early this year with a unanimous decision loss to compatriot Rene Mark Cuarto.