Gawilan, Alegarbes and Martin lead Philippine sports honours for October

The Philippine Sportswriters Association named para swimmers Ernie Gawilan and Ariel Joseph Alegarbes alongside boxer Carl Jammes Martin as its leading performers for October, recognising their Asian Para Games gold medals and a boxing title victory.

At the 5th Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Gawilan defended his men’s 400m freestyle S7 title from Hangzhou and secured silver in the men’s 200m individual medley SM7. Alegarbes won gold in the men’s 100m backstroke S14. The Philippines finished with two golds, two silvers and three bronzes.

Martin defeated Mexico’s Alan David Picasso by split decision in Riyadh to claim the WBC silver featherweight belt. The 27-year-old extended his unbeaten record to 29-0 on the undercard of the super-middleweight bout between Canelo Alvarez and Christian Mbili.

Weightlifting sisters Rose Jean and Rosegie Ramos were also recognised after winning snatch bronze medals at the International Weightlifting Federation World Championships in China. Rose Jean, 20, lifted 86kg in the women’s 49-kg category, while Rosegie, 22, recorded 97kg in the women’s 53kg division.

Albert Ian delos Santos, 20, placed fourth in the men’s 70kg competition, setting junior world records with 187kg in the clean and jerk and a 331kg total.

In chess, 64-year-old Grandmaster Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr. scored 6.5 points to win the 34th Erkel Memorial Blitz Chess Championship in Gyula, Hungary.

Pool player AJ Manas, 19, finished second at the Qatar 10-ball World Cup. He had also been runner-up alongside Carlo Biado at the WPA Men’s Doubles 10-ball World Championship in Bali a few weeks earlier.