Pinoy Pride: 8 Young Filipino Athletes Raising Our Flag in International Tournaments

 

Yuka Saso

Yuka Saso made history as the first Filipino golfer to bag gold at the US Women’s Open. The 19-year-old also won double gold medals for the individual and duo games with Bianca Pagdandanan back at the 2018 Asian Games.

Saso turned pro in 2019. The following year, she won her first tournament in the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association (JLPGA), which earned her the title 2020 Athlete of the Year by the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA).

Because of her historic win at the US Women’s Open, she rose to No. 9 in the women’s golf world rankings. Saso is expected to compete at the Tokyo Olympics later this year.

 

Alex Eala

Alexandra Eala is a 16-year-old Filipina tennis player, another one of our Filipino world-class athletes to be proud of. The International Tennis Federation has ranked her as the third best junior female tennis player in the world while the Women’s Tennis Association ranks her as No. 624.

Eala has been making headlines for years whenever she competes for international tennis championships like the 2019 US Open. She is the current 2020 Australian Open girls’ doubles titleholder alongside her Indonesian partner Priska Madelyn Nugroho. For this year, Eala and her Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva also finished second during the W25 Platja D’Aro doubles tournament in Spain last May 22.

Just recently, Eala competed at the French Open but unfortunately, she had an early exit in the singles opening round.

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Bianca Pagdanganan

Bianca Pagdanganan is another Filipino professional golfer who has been representing the country during different tournaments since 2018. She and fellow golfer, teammate, duo, and friend Yuka Saso won gold for the Philippines at the 2018 Asian Games. Pagdanganan also won bronze for the women’s individual during the same event.

She became a Ladies Professional Golf Association rookie in 2020 and is currently ranked No. 155 in world rankings and No. 41 in women’s Olympic rankings. Pagdanganan is expected to compete at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics alongside Saso.

 

Sam Catantan

Samantha Catantan is a 19-year-old fencer that’s the pride of the country. Her most recent match at the North American Cup earned her a silver medal. Last year, she won bronze at the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and another bronze at the US NCAA Fencing Championship. Catantan says all these competitions are part of her training for the 31st Southeast Asian Games later this year.

She is currently a freshman at Penn State University but is set to fly home to compete in the National Open in Ormoc City. The competition will determine the members of the national team for the SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.

 

Jhanlao Sangiao

Keep your eyes peeled for Jhanlo Sangiao, the 18-year-old Filipino mixed martial artist who just signed with ONE Championship. He is the son of the legendary Team Lakay coach Mark Sangiao. The younger Sangiao has been training for competitions his whole life. He aspires to be a world champion in his own right growing up living with ONE World Champions in Team Lakay.

Sangiao has got an impressive track record so far, a clean 3-0. According to ONE, he plans to compete in the bantamweight division.

 

Jaja Santiago

Alyja Daphne “Jaja” Antonio Santiago is a star volleyball player who currently plays for Chery Tiggo of the Premier Volleyball League. She made history as the first Filipino to win a championship in the international league when she led the Saitama Ageo Medics during the Japan V Cup.

The gold medal opened many opportunities for the 6-foot-5 player, one of these was an offer to change nationalities so she can change federations and play for Japan. If she accepts the offer, she can play in bigger tournaments like the Olympics and World Championships.

Santiago did say that the offer was tempting but she wants to represent the Philippines first. As for the Philippine National Volleyball Federation, they acknowledged the opportunity but also reiterated that they “need Jaja in the Philippines.”

 

Roberto Gomez

Zamboanga native Roberto Gomez is a 42-year-old professional pocket billiards player. His professional career kicked off in 2007 at the World Nine-ball Championship. Unfortunately, he lost but he was recognized as the first qualifier to reach the finals of the tournament. Gomez earned back-to-back victories at the 2021 World Pool Championship in Milton Keynes, England securing his last 64 spot.

 

EJ Obiena

Pole vaulter EJ Obiena earned his most recent gold medal at the 2021 Folksam Athletics Grand Prix in Gothenburg, Sweden. He says it’s a “great start to the 2021 outdoor season” and good practice for the upcoming Olympics.

Back in 2015, he won second place at the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore. The Filipino world-class athlete went on to secure first place at the 2019 Asian Championships in Doha, Qatar, and another gold at the 2019 Universiade in Naples, Italy.

In 2019, Obiena became the first Filipino to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when he cleared 5.81 meters at the Pole Vaulting athletics meet in Piazza Chiari, Italy.

 

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