Eight Filipino skateboarders will be joining Margielyn Didal in bannering the Philippines in the inaugural 2020 Asia Skateboarding Awards (ASA).
The recent nomination includes 16-year-old Kyle "Smokey" Siarot for Rookie of the Year, Jeff Gonzales for Styles for Miles, Motic Panugalinog and Jerwin "Spanky" Santos for Creative Sole, Christopher "Ping" Hurich and Daryl Dominguez for Fast Feet, and 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Daniel Ledermann and Renzo Mark "Mak" Feliciano for the Asia Trick of the Year.
Smokey, hailing from Cebu, is one of the rising stars in the skateboarding scene chosen by the ASA while Houston-raised Gonzales got the nod for possessing one of the unique overall styles.
Not even the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine could stop Panugalinog, another Cebuano, from skating with his pimped up gears while Spanky wowed the fans with what seemed to be an impossible rope trick fit for the Creative Sole nomination.
Ping of Iloilo executed swift switching from flips to grinds at a Philippine skatepark while Dominguez, who was born and raised in the United Kingdom, showed flashy tricks at the streets of London.
Fil-German Ledermann, whose roots traces from Barili, Cebu, defined what hang time means in arguably one of the best 360 flips in recent history as Baler-native Feliciano conquered another gap as he slides his board down on assistive rails.
Filipino skateboarding icon Didal was first to announce her nomination for the top plum Asia Skater of the Year following her stellar resume.
Once the selection process is over led by renowned skater Kenny Reed, ASA technical director and coach of Myanmar's skateboarding team, final winners would be chosen by a panel of jury composed of global skateboarding icons.