MANILA, Philippines -- Six athletes who made their mark in their respective fields in the year just passed are among the Philippine Sportswriters Association’s top contenders for the 2007 Athlete of the Year honors.
Boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao leads the list of nominees for the top award to be handed out by the PSA, the country’s oldest media organization composed of sportswriters from the country’s newspapers, during its traditional Awards Night slated in the second week of February.
Other strong candidates for the coveted award are top swimmer Miguel Molina, reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight champion Nonito Donaire, current world 8-ball king and former world 9-ball titleholder Ronnie Alcano, golf ace Frankie Miñoza and chess whiz kid Wesley So.
The San Miguel Corp.-sponsored awards rite will be held anew at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Shakey’s leading the primary sponsors.
Pacquiao, Alcano and Miñoza are all former recipients of the Athlete of the Year honors while Molina, Donaire and So are shooting for their first award.
Although 2007 was not as spectacular as the previous year for Pacquiao, the 29-year-old Gen. Santos City boxing hero put himself in a position to duplicate his feats in 2006, 2004, 2003 and 2002, the years he ruled as PSA Athlete of the Year.
Pacquiao last year scored a less-than-impressive eighth-round knockout of previously unbeaten Mexican Jorge Solis and a one-sided, 12-round victory over legendary Mexican warrior Marco Antonio Barrera in a rematch of their memorable fight four years ago.
Another boxing hero
Who could overlook the performance of Donaire, the sleek, mean-punching 112-pounder whose devastating left cross knocked out a cocky world champion and gave the country another boxing hero.
Also born in Gen. Santos City but now based in San Leandro, California, the 25-year-old Donaire stunned the boxing world by knocking out erstwhile undefeated IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan, the Australian punching machine who was originally from Armenia, in the fifth round of their title fight in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on July 7.
The shocker, pulled by the younger of the two fighting Donaire brothers, merited special mention in the famed Ring Magazine, the so-called “Bible of Boxing,” which called it the “Knockout of the Year” and “Upset of the Year” for 2007.
Showing his victory over the 31-year-old Darchinyan was no fluke, Donaire made a successful defense of his title five months later, scoring a resounding eighth-round technical knockout of Mexican Luis Maldonado at the Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Then, there was Molina.
The dusky, long-haired super tanker was the saving grace of the country’s worst finish ever in the Southeast Asian Games, winning four gold medals to emerge as the biennial meet’s Best Male Athlete.
The International Relations graduate from the University of California-Berkeley topped the 400-meter individual medley, 200m IM and 200m breaststroke and anchored the 4x100m men’s relay team to the gold.
As in the 2005 Manila SEA Games, Molina distinguished himself again as the most bemedalled among the Filipino athletes in the competitions.
It marked the first time in 16 years that a Filipino was bestowed the SEA Games’ Best Male Athlete award. The prestigious plum was previously won by Eric Buhain back-to-back, in 1989 and 1991.
Like Pacquiao, the lanky Alcano was also named Athlete of the Year last year when he became only the third Filipino to win the World Pool Championship. While reigning as 9-ball world titleholder, the pool master from Calamba, Laguna, added the World 8-ball crown to his collection by beating compatriot Dennis Orcullo in a race-to-11 final in the United Arab Emirates.
Alcano became only the second player in history, after Wu Chia Ching of Chinese Taipei, to reign as double world champion.
Miñoza, already the Athlete of the Year in 1990 and 1998 -- the years he topped the Asian Golf Circuit’s Order of Merit -- rediscovered his deadly swing last season and bagged a second Philippine Open title. He was the 10th two-time winner of Asia's oldest national golf championship.
The 48-year-old pride of Del Monte, Bukidnon, also won the ABC Championship on the Japan Tour, while finishing a strong second behind champion Mikko Ilonen of Finland in the Indonesia Open of the Asian Tour, predecessor of the AGC.
Not to be outdone, the 14-year-old So strung up a series of strong finishes in international chess tournaments, capping his achievements by completing his grandmaster requirements.
The high school sophomore from Bacoor, Cavite, became the world's seventh youngest GM of all time. He is, currently, also the world’s youngest GM.
The PSA Board, led by president Aldrin Cardona of the Daily Tribune, is in the final stage of completing its roster of honorees for major awards in pro and amateur basketball, Horse of the Year, Jockey of the Year, the President’s Award, the Tony Siddayao Award, the Most Outstanding NSA and other citations.
