Fresh off historic Wimbledon run, PSA to honor tennis ace Alex Eala

Tennis darling Alex Eala sizzled on the grass courts to show the way as Philippine athletes ended the first half of 2026 with a bang.

Planting the seeds for more milestones to come at an even bigger stage, Eala won her second WTA 125 title at the Birmingham Open, slew giants in world No.2 Elena Rybakina and No. 8 Elina Svitolina at the WTA 500 Berlin Open then played with Venus Williams and reached the doubles quarterfinals with the legend in the Bad Homburg Open in a remarkable June campaign.

Along the way, the 21-year-old ace earned a historic seeding at Wimbledon at No. 29 – becoming the first Filipina ever to be seeded in a Grand Slam singles.

With such highlights, Eala took the honors as the Philippine Sportswriters Association’s best achiever for the sixth month of the year.

Paris Olympics double gold medalist Carlos Yulo and Olympian pole vaulter EJ Obiena joined the beloved netter in flying the country’s flag high in the international front.

Yulo reigned supreme in his pet event, the floor exercise, at the 13th Senior Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships in China with a dazzling score of 14.700.

This marked Yulo’s 11th gold in the continental meet overall but what made this even more special was the fact he shared the podium with kid brother Eldrew, who copped the bronze at 14.300 behind Japanese runner-up Shoma Tsukiyama (14.600).

Obiena, meanwhile, vaulted to his first victory of the 2026 outdoor season at the Czeslaw Cybulski Memorial in Poznan, Poland. The world no.13 Filipino cleared 5.72 meters to beat British Owen Heard and Italian Matteo Olivery, who registered identical 5.60 meters, in the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event.

It was the second podium finish for Obiena after taking silver at the Eurowings Flight Circus in Dusseldorf, Germany with a 5.74m effort a couple of weeks earlier.

Martial artists also struck hard.

The Philippine delegation collared six gold, two silver and five bronze medals at the IFMA Muaythai Senior World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, finishing third overall.

Leo Pangsadan (U24 45kg - Muaythai Combat), Janbrix Ramiscal and Tyron Jamborillo (Duo Mai Muay), Erika Islay Bomogao (Elite Wai Kru), Xian Denice Robillos and Jasmine Dagame (U24 Duo Mai Muay), Alysa Kylie Mallari and Rhichein Yosorez (Elite Duo Mai Muay), Ariel Lee Lampacan and Phillip Delarmino (Elite Mai Muay) delivered the mints.

Team Bagsik’s youth stalwarts shone bright at the IFMA Muaythai School World Championships, bringing home 11 gold, three silver and five bronze led by Athaliah Sarmiento, who became the first Filipino to win three mints - Combat (36 kg), Solo Wai Kru, and Duo Mai Muay of the U16 Female Division.

Aces in sambo delivered a three-gold, two-silver, one-bronze haul at the Asia and Oceania Sambo Championships in front of an appreciative home crowd at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

World No. 1 Aislinn Agnes Yap (Women’s Combat Sambo 80kg), Princess Aumagel Cortez (Combat Sambo -59kg) and Jomary Torres (Combat Sambo -50kg) anchored the hosts’ charge with their golden performances.

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