MANILA, Philippines — Great Filipino athletes whose triumphant campaigns in the past year produced golden moments in the Asian Games and world championships will receive the highest accolade in sports as top achievers of 2018 when the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) holds its Annual Awards Night next month.
The Golden Women of the Asian Games in Jakarta will take center stage while surprise gold medalists among the youth in new sports will have an honored place in the traditional gala set Feb. 26 at the Manila Hotel, with the handing out of the Athlete of the Year award serving as the highlight of the affair.
The PSA board led by Dodo Catacutan of SPIN.ph already deliberated on several nominees for the group’s top honor and other various awards to be given out on this night of remembering and celebration.
The four gold medal winners in the Indonesia Asian Games emerged as the top bets for the Athlete of the Year award. They are weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, skateboarder Margielyn Didal, and the golfing trio of Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan, and Lois Kaye Go.
The four gold medals the young Filipina quartet won were the most for the country since bagging the same number of golds during the 2006 edition of the Asiad in Doha, Qatar.
Last year, world champions Jerwin Ancajas (boxing), Krizziah Lyn Tabora (bowling), and Carlo Biado (billiards) were the recipients of the PSA Athlete of the Year plum.
Composed of editors, sportswriters, and columnists from print (broadsheet and tabloid), and online media, the PSA will also be naming its regular President’s Award, Executive of the Year, National Sports Association (NSA) of the Year, and Lifetime Achievement Award.
Also to be named are awardees for Mr. Basketball, Mr. and Ms. Volleyball, and Mr. Football.
The country’s sports fraternity, the country’s oldest media group first established in 1949, will likewise be giving away Major Awards and Citations in various sports, the Tony Siddayao Awards and the Milo Junior Athletes of the Year, both being given to young top achievers.
Also to be recognized with a Posthumous honor are athletes, officials, and other personalities who passed away in 2018.