Filipinas, Obiena share PSA monthly honors
THE merry month of July provided some of the most memorable moments in local sports.
Filipino athletes did enough to make the country proud all over the world.
But easily the biggest of them all are the Philippine national women’s football team’s historic performance in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and EJ Obiena’s outstanding showing in the Diamond League-Bauhaus Galan in Sweden.
Led by Filipino-American Sarina Bolden, the 46th-seeded Filipinas made women’s football history when they shocked world No. 26 and tournament co-host New Zealand, 1-0, in Wellington.
Bolden’s heroics, which came in the 24th minute off a header that Kiwi goalie Victoria Esson was unable to deflect, provided the country’s biggest victory in the world’s biggest football stage.
So impressive was the triumph that not even the Filipinas’ heartbreaking 2-0 defeat at the hands of world No. 20 Switzerland in their debut at the Dunedin Stadium and 6-0 shutdown they suffered from former champion and world No. 12 Norway at Eden Park in Auckland were enough to dampen the celebration.
Elsewhere, pole vaulter Obiena became the first Filipino to make the grade for a ticket in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Italy-based EJ Obiena did 5.82 meters during the Diamond League- Bauhaus Galan in Sweden on July 3 to secure a berth to Paris.
Obiena did the country proud again as he dominated the Asian championship by posting a new continental mark of 5.91 meters in Thailand teo werjs later.
The 27-year-old Filipino champion also stamped his class by placing second in the Monaco leg of the Diamond League in Monte Carlo.
He did 5.82 meters again behind only the 5.92 meters ofvChristopher Nilsen of the United States, who won the gold.
World champion and record-holder Armand Duplantis finished only fourth.
These triumphs were more than enough for the Filipinas and Obiena to earn top honors in the list of achievers of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) for the month of July.
Filipino athletes also did well in other parts of the world.
The Filipino duo of Johann Chua and James Aranas defeated Joshua Filler and Moritz Neuhausen of Germany, 11-7, to win the World Cup of Pool 9-Ball Championship.
The victory was a record fourth time for the country to rule one of the prestigious events in billiards.
Over in Bangkok, Thailand, the Philippine bowling team won two golds in the 21st Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championships courtesy of Art Barrientos in the boys’ masters and the boys’ team of four composed of Barrientos, Zach Sales Ramin, Stephen Luke Diwa, and Marc Dylan Custodio.
The Filipinos ended up as the overall champion in the boys division.
Team Manila also regained the Pony International World Series crown by completing an eight-game sweep of the 18-Under girls’ tournament at the McAllen Softball Complex in Texas.
