The 2020 was certainly a different year for sports.
From opening the year with the tragic death of the legendary Kobe Bryant to having the …
The 2020 was certainly a different year for sports. From opening the year with the tragic death of the legendary Kobe Bryant to having the grandest show on earth—the Olympics—cancelled due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic, there were certainly a lot of depressing moments for sports fans this year. But there were also glimmers of hope. The NBA successfully finished its season inside a confined bubble in Orlando, leading to local leagues in the country like the PBA to follow suit and continue on despite the challenges that the pandemic has brought. There were also Filipino athletes who made leaps and bounds in their respective careers. Yes 2020 may have been a year of immense difficulty but, as sports has always showcased, there’s always that faint light at the end of the darkness. Here is the list of Inquirer Sports’ top seven memorable events this 2020. The Philippines’ most prolific amateur boxer secured a spot in the Tokyo Olympics as early as March after passing the rigors of the 2020 Asia and Oceania Olympic boxing qualifiers. Marcial, a three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and one-time World Championships runner-up, not only settled for a mere qualifier spot but he also won the whole qualifying tournament outpointing Abilkhan Amankul to take the middleweight gold. Since then, Marcial has signed a promotional contract with Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions and defeated Andrew Whitfield via unanimous decision in his professional debut. Other athletes have flourished in their fields like pole vaulter EJ Obiena and karateka James De Los Santos. Obiena, the first Filipino to qualify for the Tokyo Games, won gold in the 59th Ostrava Golden Spike and in the process defeated Olympic champion Thiago Braz and 2012 winner Renauld Lavillenie. De Los Santos, meanwhile, pushed eKATA into public consciousness, racking up 36 gold medals in the competition and solidified his place atop the discipline’s world rankings. The second half of the UAAP Season 82 was just starting off when the league decided to ultimately suspend the competitions on March 10 and making it the first major league in the Philippines to halt its activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It didn’t take too long for the NCAA to follow suit as it canceled the remainder of Season 95 for the same reason. With no access to vaccine yet in sight, the UAAP has decided to scrap Season 83 altogether while the NCAA is looking to setup a bubble environment for Season 96 in late 2021.
