THE country’s current top players in basketball and football are on the honor roll of the San Miguel Corp.-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Annual Awards Night on March 6 at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel guard Scottie Thompson is this year’s top professional basketball player, while Sarina Bolden will receive the same honor for women’s football.
The 29-year-old Thompson, the reigning Philippine Basketball Association MVP, is in great company as previous winners of the Mr. Basketball Award the past two decades include June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos, Mark Caguioa, JayJay Helterbrand, Jimmy Alapag, James Yap, Asi Taulava and Willie Miller.
Bolden, the 25-year-old midfielder of Team Filipinas, meanwhile, will be the first ever to be cited Ms. Football by the country’s oldest media organization headed by Rey Lachica, sports editor of Tempo.
Thompson and Bolden make up the long list of top achievers in 2022—led by Athlete of the Year Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo—who will be feted in the traditional gala night presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV and with major backing from the Philippine Olympic Committee, Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, Milo, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation, Rain or Shine, 1Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, Philippine Basketball Association, OKBet, International Container Terminal Services Inc. and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
The year 2022 was a banner season for Thompson and Bolden.
The two-way guard out of University of Perpetual Help won his first ever MVP trophy in Asia’s pioneering pro league after playing a major role in Ginebra’s retention of the Governors’ Cup championship.
The pride of Davao was also adjudged Finals MVP during the Kings’ title series against the Meralco Bolts, while emerging as Best Player of the Conference also for the first time.
In between, Thompson also made himself available for the national team that played in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
Bolden, on the other hand, was instrumental in Team Filipinas punching a historic ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time ever by scoring the winning penalty against Chinese-Taipei, 4-3, in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Asia Cup.
She also had the most number of goals for the women’s team that bagged the bronze in the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, and again did the same in the Asean Football Federation Women’s Championship, where the country broke through for the first time following a 3-0 shutout of four-time champion Thailand in the gold medal match.