PSA honors Sanchez, SEAG gold winners

Kayla Sanchez proudly displays her SEAG medals. —POC MEDIA

Gold medalists from the 33rd Southeast Asian Games headline the list of athletes and sports figures to be honored at the 2025 Philippine Sportswriters Association–San Miguel Corporation Awards Night on Feb. 16 at the Diamond Hotel Manila.

Leading the SEA Games honorees is Kayla Sanchez, who topped the Philippine delegation with three gold medals and five silvers in swimming during the biennial meet held in December in Bangkok and Chonburi, Thailand. Sanchez emerged as the most bemedaled Filipino athlete from the country’s largest-ever SEA Games contingent.

Several teams and athletes will also receive citations for historic and standout performances. The Filipinas football team will be recognized for winning the country’s first SEA Games gold in women’s football, while the women’s beach volleyball quartet of Sisi Rondina, Bernadeth Pons, Sunnie Villapando and Diij Rodriguez will be cited for delivering another breakthrough gold.

Individual gold medalists to be honored include Peter Groseclose in men’s 500-meter speed skating and EJ Obiena in men’s pole vault, along with the rest of the national track and field team. The Gilas Pilipinas men’s and women’s basketball squads will also receive recognition, as will the practical shooting team led by world champion Rolly Tecson, the triathlon team bannered by Kira Ellis, and other gold medal winners.

Also part of the SEA Games gold-winning roster is rising tennis star Alex Eala, who will be named Athlete of the Year alongside two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo. The awards night is co-presented by ArenaPlus and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Eala, 20, ended a 26-year drought for Philippine tennis by winning the women’s singles gold and helped propel the 1,200-strong national team to a sixth-place overall finish with 50 golds, 73 silvers and 154 bronzes.

Beyond the SEA Games honorees, the PSA will also cite chess Grandmaster Joey Antonio and two-time world 10-ball and 9-ball champion Rubilen Amit, along with Jemyca Mendoza, Jennifer Tan Uy, Regie Ramirez, Darry Bernardo, Cheyzer Mendoza, Joshua Pacio, Carlos Baylon Jr., the women’s ice hockey team and Sean Gibbons.

The annual awards night, organized by the country’s oldest media organization, is backed by major partners including the Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, Cignal, Premier Volleyball League, Philippine Basketball Association, Akari, Rain or Shine, Capital1 Solar Energy and Acrocity.