PH athletes recently snared medals from various international events

PH harvests medals from rowing, aquatics, archery, bowling, billiards

Philippine News Agency (PNA)
July 9, 2026

Note: All photos are from Philippine Sports Commission Facebook page

MANILA – Aside from tennis' newest star Alex Eala, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, and gymnast bothers Carlos and Eldrew Yulo, a slew of Filipino athletes recently snared medals from various international events.

The Philippine youth team shone at the Asian Rowing Beach Sprint Championships in Pattaya, Thailand with three golds, one silver, and one bronze medal.

Emmanuel Pilar topped the U16 coastal men's single sculls and the double sculls with Kyle Olano; while Khayzie Caviltes and Ayonna Huerto ruled the U19 coastal women's double sculls.

Matt Jugadora pocketed silver in the U19 coastal men's single sculls, and Amelyn Pagulayan-Feiza Lenton took home the bronze in the coastal women's double sculls.

Meanwhile, 2024 Paris Olympian Joanie Delgaco snared bronze in the women’s single sculls at the 67th Internationale Ratzeburger Ruderregatta in Germany.

At the 122nd Vienna International Rowing Regatta in Austria, the Philippine team collected one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

Edgar Ilas won in the lightweight men's single sculls while the men’s pair of Rynjie Peñaredondo and Van Maxilom clinched the silver.

Joanie Delgaco added two bronze medals to her collection -- one in the women’s single sculls and another in the women's doubles with Kristine Paraon.

In aquatics, divers Gabriella De Jesus, Gillianne Amber De Leon and Jana Rodriguez brought home a gold each from the 3rd Parisakti Diving International Competition in Jakarta, Indonesia.

De Jesus captured the gold in the platform (Group B Girls), De Leon in the platform (Group B Girls) and Jana Rodriguez in the Open platform girls.

De Jesus added a silver in the 1M springboard (Group B Girls).

Swimmers Riannah Chantelle Coleman and Jamesray Ajido, meanwhile, qualified for the Dakar Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, slated Oct. 31 to Nov. 13.

The other Filipino qualifiers are Pi Durden Wangkay and Naomi Marjorie Cesar (athletics), cyclist Maritanya Krog, and wushu artist Angel Polo.

Three more Filipinos are vying for slots in gymnastics and windsurfing, for a total of nine spots allocated to the Philippines via the universality rule.

Universality places are special entry spots in individual sports for underrepresented or developing nations even if they do not meet strict performance standards.

The Philippines finished 1-2 in the Predator PBC Indonesia International 10-Ball Open, also in Jakarta.

Three-time world champion Carlo "The Black Tiger" Biado beat Paolo Gallito, 10-9.

Biado had won the world 9-ball twice (2017 and 2025) and the world 10-ball in 2024.

Team Philippines likewise made an impact in lawn bowling as Marisa Baronda-Johnson and Jocelyn Salanap dominated at the Lion City Cup in Singapore, striking gold in ends format and silver in sets format.

The Philippine team similarly impressed at the Singapore Youth Archery Championships with a 30-medal haul -- 13-10-7 gold-silver-bronze.

Abigail Jane Lim and Mateusz Vaughn Johnson nailed three individual gold medals each to lead the Filipino achievers.

Eala made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon in London, the first Filipino to go that far in a Grand Slam since Felicisimo Ampon's quarterfinal feat in the 1953 French Open in Paris.

Obiena, who ranked world No. 2 in 2023, won at the Czesław Cybulski Memorial in Poznań, Poland and at the Raiffeisen Austrian Open in Eisenstadt.

At the 13th Senior Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championship in China, Carlos and Edriel struck gold and bronze, respectively, in floor exercise.

Obiena and Carlos Yulo, both made it to the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics, with the latter snaring two golds in Paris. (PNA)

FROM PSC FACEBOOK PAGE

05 JULY 2026 - The Philippines secures its first-ever world title as e-Gilas Pilipinas finishes on top at the E-FIBA World Finals Qatar Season 4 in Doha, Qatar. A monumental milestone for Philippine esports basketball on the global stage. 🏀

They swept Türkiye in the grandfinals, 2-0, and  broke through the team's consecutive fourth-place finishes from previous years to and finally lift the championship trophy 

06 JULY 2026 - Pinay weightlifter Alexsandra Ann Diaz delivers a historic performance, claiming golds and breaking records, at the 2026 IWF World Youth Weightlifting Championships in Cali, Colombia. 

Competing in the Girls' 48kg class, the young weightlifting prodigy captured all three available gold medals while establishing new Youth World standards in the Clean & Jerk (98kg) and Total (175kg) lifts. She lifted 77kg to clinch the gold in the snatch category. 

Philippines named emerging region in Esports Awards

Philippines named emerging region in Esports Awards

Michelle Lojo  
Philstar.com
August 26, 2024

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines was cited as the "Esports Ones to Watch: Emerging Region" in the 2024 Esports Awards held at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last August 24 (August 25, Manila time) during the inaugural Esports World Cup.

According the Awards’ website, the Esports Ones to Watch Award is "a distinguished honor that recognizes emerging talent within the esports industry" and highlights players, creators, esports figures that show exceptional potential and are poised to make significant impacts in the future."

The country has been winning numerous awards in esports, courtesy either of Filipino pro teams or of Filipino national athletes. Many Filipino pro teams have won championships abroad, cementing the dominance of Filipino players in the likes of Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB), Valorant, Dota2, Tekken, PUBG Mobile and many more. 

Last year, the Philippines was awarded the first National Federation of the Year Award by the International Esports Federation (IESF), with the country's national esports team, Sibol, being crowned the Grand World Esports champs at the 2023 World Esports Championship.

In the first half of 2024, many international esports organizations began partnering with local MLBB teams like Team Liquid Philippines, which acquired ECHO; Team Falcons partnering with AP.Bren; Fnatic partnering with ONIC Philippines; and Aurora Gaming, which made its debut in the current season of the Mobile Legends Professional League.

"It's a sweet moment for us. This is a testament that we Filipinos are excelling in esports. ‘Pag pumasok yung mga foreign brands, that is a validation na may ginagawa tayong tama," said Philippine Esports Organization (PESO) executive director Marlon Marcelo.

He adds, "I'm happy for the teams that partnered with these organizations kasi mas maraming opportunities, mas maraming support and again validation that they are true top-notch esports players."

Other winners in the 2024 Esports Awards were game publisher Riot Games, which took home Esports Publisher of the Year, Esports Game of the Year for their FPS game Valorant, Esports Content of the Year for their League of Legends music video, and the Esports Breakthrough Game of the Year for their title Teamfight Tactics; while Moonton Games' Mobile Legends Bang Bang won the Mobile Esports Game of the Year.

First held in 2016, the Esports Awards is the lone awarding body that celebrates achievements in the esports industry. It was previously held every December of each year, but the Awards had recently announced a three-year partnership with the Esports World Cup in hopes of bringing the entire world together to commemorate esports excellence.