TENNIS star Alex Eala and the Filipinas football team continued setting new milestones, while gymnast Eldrew Yulo started to make his mark in seniors play to headline a stellar campaign for Philippine bets in the last two months.
Eala fueled her rise to a career-high 29 in the WTA rankings in mid-March with strong performances in well-attended WTA1000 tournaments in Dubai and Qatar, WTA500 in Abu Dhabi, a strong debut at Indian Wells, and a celebrated return at the Miami Open.
The 20-year-old phenom highlighted this two-month gig with a 6-1,7-6 (5) upset of Italian No. 8 Jasmine Paolini in the Round of 16 in Dubai and a Last-16 finish in Indian Wells, considered as ‘the fifth Grand Slam.’
Deep into women’s month, the Filipinas went to work towards their goal of booking a return trip to the FIFA Women’s World Cup via the AFC Women’s Asian Cup pathway.
And the Pinay booters cleared their path to next year’s global showpiece set in Brazil with a 2-0 victory over Uzbekistan in the Play-in of the Asian meet in Gold Coast, Australia. They banked on two lovely passes from Jael Marie Guy that Angie Beard (47th minute) and Jaclyn Sawicki (52nd) converted to get the job done.
Meanwhile, Eldrew, the younger brother of Paris Olympics double gold medalist Carlos Yulo, heralded his arrival in seniors gymnastics with a gold medal at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Antalya, Turkey.
The 18-year-old Eldrew scored 14.100 to top the floor exercise in his seniors debut that came on the heels of his two-bronze feat at the World Juniors Championships at home.
For their brilliance, Eala, the Filipinas and Eldrew Yulo bannered the Philippine Sportswriters Association’s monthly achievers roll for February and March 2026.
Billiards world titlist Carlo Biado and Olympian pole vaulter EJ Obiena also ranked high in this list for their feats.
Biado ruled the US Open One-Pocket Championship in Nevada in March, beating compatriot Roland Garcia 5-1 in the finals, in a roaring follow up to the WPA Teams World Championship triumph he posted the previous month in partnership with Rubilen Amit, Chezka Centeno and Jefrey Roda.
With a 5.70-meter clearance, Obiena reigned supreme at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tianjin, China last February, completing his continental collection after previous conquests at the Asian Games and Asian Athletics Championships. He followed this up with a golden vault at the ISTAF Indoor 2026 in Berlin with a season-best 5.78m.
There were sparkling performances as well from golf ace Rianne Malixi, who placed third at the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific in New Zealand; cyclist Patrick Lee, who claimed a historic bronze (Men’s C5 scratch race) at the Asian Para Track Championships in Tagaytay.
Wushu bets Hannah Ysabel De Los Reyes (taolu girls’ junior taijiquan) and Angel Polo (girls’ youth taijiquan) snagged bronze medals at the 10th World Junior Wushu Championships in Tianjin, and chess wizard Mark Jay Bacojo, who earned a GM norm and ratings points with his podium finish at the tough Russian Chess Crown Standard A in Moscow.
