Nonito Donaire, Dennis Orcollo share PSA best athletes award
MANILA, Philippines—Sustaining their brilliance, boxer Nonito Donaire Jr. and billiards star Dennis Orcollo cemented their status as world champions with a string of remarkable victories last year.
Donaire captured the bantamweight title of the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization and made one successful defense, while Orcollo collected the world 8-ball crown and held off a host of challengers to keep his top ranking.
With their noteworthy achievements, Donaire and Orcollo will be awarded as co-Athletes of the Year—the highest individual honor—during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards Night on March 3 at the Manila Hotel.
Donaire’s award will be his second after 2007 when he shared the limelight with multi-titled swimmer Miguel Molina.
It will be the second straight Athlete of the Year award for Orcollo, who rose from humble beginnings in Bislig, Surigao del Norte.
Last year, Orcollo shared the award with Asian Games boxing gold medalist Rey Saludar and pool great Francisco “Django” Bustamante.
Donaire proved that Philippine boxing is more than just Manny Pacquiao when he punched his way to a second world championship in three years.
Known as the “Filipino Flash,” Donaire scored a second round technical knockout of Mexican Fernando Montiel in their unification fight at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas last February.
Keeping his sharp form, the 29-year-old Donaire retained his titles with a unanimous decision win over previously unbeaten Omar Andres Narvaez of Argentina at the Madison Square Garden in New York last November.
Orcollo began his year in style, winning the world 8-ball championship at the Fujairah Exhibition Center in United Arab Emirates, where he overcame Neils Feijen of the Netherlands, 10-3, in the finals
One of the bright spots in an otherwise gloomy Southeast Asian Games campaign for the country in Indonesia, Orcollo also bagged the gold medal in the eight-ball event and ended the season as the Player of the Year by the World Pool and Billiard Association.
Orcollo joins an elite list of athletes to win back-to-back awards that include Bong Coo (1982-84), Lydia de Vega (1986-87), former world boxing champion Luisito Espinosa (1989-90), golfer Dorothy Delasin (2000-01), and Pacquiao (2002-04 and 2008-09).
