Reyes, Delasin PSA top athletes

Efren "Bata" Reyes, whose magical performance awed fans worldwide and earned him a lofty place in the firmament of billiards, and Fil-American Dorothy Delasin, one of the top 20 in the world of golf, were proclaimed yesterday the PSA Top Athletes of the Year.

Reyes earned 37 votes in secret balloting by members of the Philippine Sportswriters Association this week.

He outpointed world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao (11) and Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist Eduardo Buenavista (3) to become the PSA’s top male athete of the year.

Delasin, last year’s Athlete of the Year, won her second title as the best female athlete with a runaway vote of 43, besting Liza del Rosario (9), the Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in the women’s doubles in bowling and finalist in the prestigious World Cup of bowling in Pattaya, Thailand.

The two top athletes will receive the highest honor of the sportswriting fraternity from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who has been invited to be the guest of honor and speaker during the awarding rites on Jan. 11 at the Holiday Inn Manila.

The Awards Night, to be attended also by sports officials and members of the corporate community, is sponsored by Photokina Marketing and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Reyes, 47, became the toast of the game this year when he won four major titles and a record P12.4 million. His major titles include the US Masters in Chesapeake, the Accu-Stats 8-ball in Los Angeles, the Tokyo 9-ball Championships, the World Pool Invitational in Warsaw, Poland and his one-one-one duel with women’s world champion Jeanette Lee of the US.

Delasin, 21, took a four-stroke victory in one of the majors of the US Ladies Pro Golf Association – the Samsung Championships in Vallejo, California – to win a record purse of $157,000, her biggest paycheck so far, in notching her third career triumph.

All the other candidates will receive the PSA Major Awards along with those chosen in amateur and professional basketball, amateur boxing and horse of the year.