The underdogs prevailed in 2024 — those who flew under the radar, those who were almost relegated to irrelevance and to the dustbin of the ordinary, those who fought their way back to prominence, those who reclaimed their place among the greats of Philippine sports.

These are their stories.

Unheralded to Olympic medalist

Heading to the Paris Olympics, boxer Aira Villegas trained and prepared for the biggest battle of her life away from the spotlight, which was mostly centered on teammates Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, and Eumir Marcial. This was not at all a surprise as the three Tokyo Olympic medalists were expected to make the podium anew in Paris. 

Villegas was not even among the medal prospects for the Philippine delegation. Ranked only 20th in the world, she was also facing a gauntlet of some of the best women’s flyweight in her half of the draw. 

But the 29-year-old native of Tacloban City was bent on defying the odds.

In her first fight, she sent a strong message to the rest of the field when she eliminated the No. 3 ranked minimumweight in the world, Yasmine Moutaqui of Morocco, by unanimous decision. Moutaqui bagged a bronze medal in the minimumweight division in the 2023 World Championships and is a two-time gold medalist in the African Championships.

Villegas followed this up by outboxing second seed Roumaysa Boualam of Algeria, who is a two-time African Games champion, in the round of 16.

In the quarterfinals, Villegas overcame the hometown crowd to defeat seventh seed Wassila Lkhadiri of France, another bronze medalist in the 2023 World Championships.

Her run ended in the semifinals where she fell via unanimous decision to the top flyweight and one of the most decorated fighters in the world, Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey.

Those who followed Villegas closely knew she was ripe for a breakthrough.

Prior to her semifinal encounter with Cakiroglu, the Filipina southpaw was undefeated and on a 12-fight winning streak in 2024, winning all of her bouts in the Canberra International Challenge in Australia, the Boxam International Tournament in Spain, and the World Qualification Tournament in Italy, plus her first three bouts in the Paris Olympics.

Villegas went from unheralded, unnoticed, and underappreciated to an Olympic bronze medalist and a true Filipina sports heroine. 

Pool stronghold

Pool, or more popularly known in local terms as billiards, has always been close to the hearts of Filipino sports fans who have witnessed the table wizardry of legends such as Efren “Bata” Reyes, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, and Jose “Amang” Parica.

The year 2024 saw a resurgence of sorts for both Filipino and Filipina cue masters who showcased to the rest of the world that the Philippines remains part of the bedrock of pool.

In March, Carlo Biado earned $75,000 and the championship trophy of the WPA World Ten-ball Championship held in Las Vegas. This was Biado’s second world title after winning the World Nine-ball Championship in 2017, further cementing his place among the best Filipinos to ever play the game. 

Rubilen Amit did one better, winning her third world title when she emerged champion in September of the WPA Women’s World Nine-ball Championship hosted by New Zealand. She downed former world champion Chen Siming of China in the finals to add to her collection of world titles that includes the 2009 and 2013 World Ten-ball Championships.

The local pool scene was also enlivened when the inaugural Reyes Cup pitting Team Asia versus Team Europe was held in October at the Ninoy Aquino National Stadium. Named after Reyes, who is generally recognized as the sport’s greatest of all time, the Reyes Cup saw a gathering of Asia’s top players, which included two Filipinos, Biado and Johann Chua, dominate a team of Europe’s top players to win the first-ever staging of the competition. 

There were other significant triumphs accomplished this year by our cue artists.

Chezka Centeno, the 2023 Women’s World Ten-ball champion, won the Predator Pro Billiards Series Las Vegas Ten-ball Women’s Open. “Bad Koi” Chua claimed the Hanoi Open in October, while Jefrey Roda upset former world champion and hometown bet Ko Pin Yi to claim the championship of the Chinese Taipei Open on December 18. 

Making most of opportunities

A new team in the newly-promoted Koshigaya Alphas and a new coach in Ryuzo Anzai have been the welcome changes the 7-foot-3 Sotto needed to revitalize his Japan B. League career. 

In 20 games this season, the 22-year-old has been averaging 13.8 points and 10.4 rebounds. He is No. 1 in the B. League in defensive rebounds (8.3) and fourth overall in total rebounds. Sotto is also sixth in shot blocks with 1.2 per game. 

His numbers are an upgrade from the 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds he averaged in 34 games for the Yokohama B-Corsairs last season.

A lot of the progression has to do with being on the floor more, with Sotto playing 28 minutes per game for the Alphas compared to only 20 per game he logged for Yokohama last season.

The same holds true for Sotto’s Gilas Pilipinas performance. 

Fielded for 25 minutes per game in the first two windows of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, Sotto repaid head coach Tim Cone’s trust with double-double averages of 15.5 points and 12.5 rebounds to go with 3.8 assists and 2.3 blocks.

In his only full game in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July, Sotto played 32 minutes and registered 18 points and 8 rebounds as Gilas Pilipinas stunned host Latvia, 89-80.

His current playing time is in stark contrast to the previous FIBA World Cup, where Sotto averaged only 14 minutes under former national team coach Chot Reyes. In turn, Sotto normed just less than 4 field goal attempts and put up 6 points and 4 boards per game. 

The questions about Sotto were never about skills and talent. His unimpressive showing at the start of his pro career and senior stint with Gilas Pilipinas last year boiled down to lack of opportunities. When he was finally given the minutes to showcase his wares this year, he has delivered the numbers and then some. 

Winning without a medal

For the second straight edition of the Paralympics, the Philippines came home without a medal. 

But it does not mean the country’s campaign on the grandest stage for differently abled athletes this year was not a success. 

Two athletes emerged as the country’s newest stars who will banner the flag in the years to come, hopefully all the way to the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles. 

Olongapo’s swimming pride Angel Otom, born with no left arm and an underdeveloped right arm, missed out on podium finishes but not without putting up a brave fight for the medal. 

A winner of seven gold medals in the ASEAN Para Games, Otom finished fifth in the finals of the women’s 50m butterfly S5, where she swam a new personal best of 45.78 seconds that shattered her previous mark of 47.52 seconds she set in the World Para Championships last year.

Otom, who is only 21 years old, then placed sixth in the finals of the women’s 50m backstroke S5.

Para javelin thrower Cendy Asusano, meanwhile, saved the best for last for the Philippine contingent.

The last to compete among the six Filipino para athletes who qualified for the Paralympics, Asusano came the closest to making the podium in the women’s javelin throw F54.

Debuting in the Games, the 34-year-old Asusano hurled the javelin on her first attempt to a distance of 15.05m to finish fourth.

It was a new personal best for Asusano, surpassing the 14.63m she achieved in the World Para Athletics Championships in May where she also placed fourth.  – Rappler.com