JUST halfway through 2021, Philippine sports is already teeming with top achievers.
The month of June alone saw a number of Filipino athletes proudly wave the country’s tricolors in the international stage, with a pair of lady teeners showing the way.
Golfer Yuka Saso displayed steely nerves in beating Nasa Hataoka in a three-hole playoff to win the US Women’s Open, becoming the first Filipino golfer to become a major winner.
At 19, the double-gold medalists in the 2018 Asian Games tied South Korean Park Inbee as the youngest champion in the tournament.
The historic feat of Saso put her in a strong position for the Athlete of the Year honor and other recognitions handed out by the Philippine Sportswriters Association at year’s end.
Everything snowballed after Saso’s triumph.
Rising 16-year-old netter Alex Eala won the French Open girls’ doubles title with Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva, beating Russian Maria Bondarenko and Hungarian Amarissa Kiaratoh 6-0, 7-5 at Roland Garros. It was the second Grand Slam doubles title for the Filipina scholar of the Rafael Nadal Academy, who also bagged the Australian girls crown in 2020.
Pole vaulter and Olympic-bound EJ Obiena also had his share of the limelight by winning a number of gold medals, including a record-breaking performance in the Jump and Fly International Athletics in Mossingen, Germany where he established a new national record of 5.85 meters. He surpassed the mark by soaring to 5.87 meters that netted him a silver in the World Athletics Continental Tour in Poland.
