MANILA – Alexandra Eala, the Filipinas women’s football squad, gymnast Eldrew Yulo, billiards champion Carlo Biado, and pole vaulter EJ Obiena were named the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) top achievers for February and March.
Tennis star Eala reached a career-high world ranking of No. 29 in March after strong performances in tournaments across the UAE, Qatar, and her debut at Indian Wells in California, followed by a return to the Miami Open in the U.S.
In Dubai, the 20-year-old defeated Italian No. 8 Jasmine Paolini, 6-1, 7-6 (5), to reach the Round of 16, and she also advanced to the Last 16 in Indian Wells, often called the “fifth Grand Slam.”
The Filipinas clinched a second consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup berth after defeating Uzbekistan 2-0 in the Asian Cup play-in match in Australia, with goals finished by Angie Beard and Jaclyn Sawicki off Jael Marie Guy’s assists.
Eldrew Yulo, 18, captured the floor exercise gold with 14.100 points at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Antalya, Turkey, on March 14. He now targets two more gold medals in Cairo after qualifying for floor exercise and horizontal bar finals.
Billiards icon Carlo Biado won the US Open One-Pocket Championship in Nevada, beating fellow Filipino Roland Garcia 5-1, adding to his WPA Teams World Championship victory the previous month with teammates Rubilen Amit, Chezka Centeno, and Jefrey Roda.
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena cleared 5.70 meters to win gold at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tianjin, China, in February and set a season-best 5.78m at the ISTAF Indoor 2026 in Berlin on March 7.
Other notable achievers include golfer Rianne Malixi, third at the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific in New Zealand; cyclist Patrick Lee, historic bronze medalist in the Men’s C5 scratch race at the Asian Para Track Championships; wushu athletes Hannah Ysabel De Los Reyes and Angel Polo, both bronze medalists at the 10th World Junior Wushu Championships in China; and chess talent Mark Jay Bacojo, who earned a Grandmaster norm at the Russian Chess Crown Standard A in Moscow.
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