IT has been an amazing year for Philippine sports, with the country reaching new heights in several disciplines, while some continue to keep a steady upward trajectory in their respective disciplines.
From Carlos Yulo’s golden conquest in the Paris Olympics, to Gilas Pilipinas’ tremendous showing on the world stage, there aren’t any shortages of ‘winners’ in the country’s sporting picture this year.
But as it is in any sport, there are always gonna be losers alongside the winners and sadly, there are some who ended up getting the short end of the stick.
Here we look back at the biggest winners for Philippine sports this year, and some of the ones who lost.
WINNER: Carlos Yulo
Need we say more? Yulo etched his name in the annals of Philippine history after a historic run in the 2024 Paris Olympics when he took home two gold medals in the quadrennial festivities.
In the 23 editions that the Philippines participated in since first joining the Olympic Games in 1924, the Philippines has only taken one gold medal when Hidilyn Diaz broke the golden drought in Tokyo in the 2020 edition.
Amazingly, Yulo took home two gold medals in a span of two days.
READ: Carlos Yulo wins second Olympic gold by ruling vault final
In doing so, not only did he become the most celebrated Filipino athlete of all time, he also assured himself of a really comfortable life for himself, his eventual kids and grandkids in the future with all the rewards he received from different benefactors – government and private alike.
LOSERS: Everyone involved in the Yulo family drama
We’re not here to nitpick as to who started it all and to whose fault it is. This is not to judge anyone involved.
But the moment their turmoil went public, everybody involved in it lost.
From Caloy, whose golden moment was tainted with this controversy, to Mr. and Mrs. Yulo and Chloe San Jose, three figures who were torn apart by people on social media from both sides with the fallout, to Caloy’s siblings who are now under tremendous pressure from the vultures to ‘do better’ than their older brother – no one won in this mudslinging.
We can only hope that they can find peace in their hearts moving forward. And whether reconciliation or even forgiveness comes for Caloy and his family, that really isn’t our business anymore.
WINNERS: Gilas Pilipinas
Gilas Pilipinas continued to give a good account of itself on the world stage with solid performances against some of the world’s best basketball teams.
This comes after a massive 2023 for the team where they reclaimed continental supremacy by winning the Asian Games under the tutelage of the winningest basketball coach in the Philippines in Tim Cone.
READ: Gilas Pilipinas is SPIN.ph History Maker of the Year
The squad had seven official games this year where they went 5-2, and that wasn’t against some Asian minnows as well.
In the games for the Asia Cup and 2024 Olympics qualifiers, Gilas scored big wins over Latvia and New Zealand, while going toe to toe with higher ranked squads like Brazil and Georgia – two games they played without Kai Sotto.
With a pretty solid young core together with still able vets ready to carry the fight, it’s only fair for fans to expect more from this team in 2025.
LOSERS: Terrafirma Dyip
Remember when the Dyip squad bannered by Stephen Holt, Juami Tiongson, Javi Gomez de Liano, Andreas Cahilig and Isaac Go gave San Miguel a run for its money in the PBA Philippine Cup? Well, all we can do now is to reminisce about those days.
In just a span of months, all the five players mentioned above are now gone from the team. Holt and Go got shipped to Ginebra alongside the pick that would have been the brilliant RJ Abarrientos, De Liano moved to the Korean Basketball League to play with Anyang, while Tiongson and Cahilig got shipped to San Miguel later.
READ: PBA sale? All the Terrafirma players traded over past four months
They would’ve stayed competitive, had the players they got in return stayed with them.
Instead, Christian Standhardinger – coming off another MVP worthy season with Ginebra – decided to just retire after a fruitless conference. And until Terrence Romeo finally suits up, we can’t be too sure if ‘TR7’ isn’t going to follow in the same path.
WINNER: Volleyball
One sport that took a tremendous leap into the mainstream consciousness of Filipino sports fans this year is volleyball as both Alas Pilipinas Men’s and Women’s squads took notable improvements this year.
Alas Women took home the bronze medal in the AVC Challenge Cup, the first medal in any AVC-sanctioned tournament since the federation was established 63 years ago. The ladies also won two bronze medals in the SEA Women’s V-League. Alas Men also made strides this year, winning bronze in the SEA Men’s V-League.
The Premier Volleyball League also continued its rise as the country’s top-flight professional volleyball league, with the fledgling organization breaking attendance and viewership records this year.
More than that, the Philippines also secured the hosting for the men’s world championship next year, bringing quality volleyball to the country’s shores once again.
WINNER: Mapua
UPs UAAP title win certainly deserved all the headlines, but in the Philippines’ collegiate basketball landscape there’s no bigger winner than Mapua.
After 33 years of wait, and two bridesmaid finishes over the past three years, the Cardinals finally took home the big one after sweeping the highly favored College of St. Benilde in the historic NCAA Season 100 (more on that later).
READ: After heartbreaks and heartaches, coach Randy's heart now full with Mapua title
Clint Escamis, last season’s MVP, upped his stock even further by proving that he can lead a team to winning it all. Same goes with Randy Alcantara, a guy who was part of the 1991 championship team but can’t quite replicate his magic from his days as a collegiate player until a few this season, can now call himself a champion.
The cherry on top? Mapua’s gonna be celebrating this title win with their own centennial celebration.
LOSER: NCAA
A wasted opportunity, that’s what this is.
Entering the centennial season of the Grand Ol’ League, expectations were high for the NCAA this season. But from that delayed telecast of the league’s opening, it was apparent that it was going to be another rough season for the league.
All season long, the league was playing second-fiddle to the UAAP, as the lack of push from the league and the TV coverer’s end to make its 100th season standout clearly showed.
It’s not the players’ fault though. There are a lot of marketable stars in the NCAA – from Escamis, to MVP Allen Liwag, to some of the best collegiate players today in Jimboy Estrada, Ato Barba, Paeng Are and the like, there is no shortage of talent in the NCAA.
The reception in the finals, both in the venue and online, is a telling sign that the NCAA has a very good product to sell. Unfortunately, the hype shouldn’t have been ONLY in the finals. It could’ve done so much better in the entire season.
As a guy who covered both leagues, I can even say I’ve covered more exciting games in the NCAA live.
But until the students start to care a little more, and the league and its TV partner find new ways to shake things up, they’d continue to play second fiddle to the giant marketing machine that is the UAAP.
WINNERS: MVP Group
With the San Miguel block dominating the PBA over the past few years, longtime sports patron Manny Pangilinan finally has something to celebrate about in the league.
Early this year, Meralco finally got its breakthrough by beating San Miguel in the Philippine Cup no less to win its first ever championship in Asia’s oldest pay-for-play league.
To make things sweeter for MVP, it was his flagship’s team turn to win the big one as his TNT returned to the pinnacle of the PBA by beating the league’s most popular squad in Barangay Ginebra to open the 49th season of the league.
Things are looking up once again for the MVP group and it could only get better for them moving forward.
LOSER: John Amores, and those who believed in him
Like the first item in this piece, this really needs no further explanation.
In a perfect world, John Amores would’ve embraced yet another chance, cleaned up his act, became a serviceable veteran in the PBA and end up as a shining example on how people can change, do better and inspire others to get their acts straight moving forward.
But this isn’t a perfect world, and that wasn’t the case.
Full disclosure, I was rooting for Amores to clean up his act. When he went to St. Benilde’s practice to personally apologize, I saw it as a guy who was man enough to face those he wronged personally. I truly hoped it was the start of his redemption arc.
But that all changed in the last week of September this year when Amores was caught on camera shooting someone Laguna, all because of a heated argument stemming from a game with a 4,000 peso side bet days after NorthPort’s conference came to a close.
Soon after, Amores and his younger brother were charged with frustrated homicide. His professional license was revoked by GAB, signaling the end of his tumultuous career which could’ve gone so much differently had he stuck with his second chances.
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