Count on heavy hitters Ernest John Obiena and Carlos Edriel Yulo to give Philippine sports a smashing end to the first half of 2023.

Carlos Yulo (left) and EJ Obiena. (Arnold Quizol/File photo)

Fresh from ripping his own Southeast Asian Games record, Obiena soared to even greater heights as he joined pole vaults' ultra-elite six-meter club on a sunny June afternoon in Bergen, Norway.

With one try, Obiena cracked one of the most elusive barriers in athletics en route to the gold medal of the Sparebanken Vest Bergen Jump Challenge and a place among the best pole-vaulters ever.

Only 27 others have made 6.0 meters before, including greats such as Hall of Famer Sergey Bubka and reigning world and Olympic king Mondo Duplantis.

Yulo, for his part, dazzled in the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Singapore, where he anchored the Philippines’ three-gold, three-silver and three-bronze haul.

Aside from reigning supreme in the parallel bars, vault, and floor exercise events, the world champion gymnast also collared a silver medal in the Individual All-around and a bronze in the horizontal bar.

For their exploits, the two Tokyo Olympics veterans led the Philippine Sportswriters Association’s honorees for June.

Similarly worth recognizing were the feats of Team Philippines in the Asean Para Games in Cambodia, Singapore-based bowler Zach Sales Ramin, and the IM Daniel Quizon-headlined chessers in the 21st Asean+ Age Group Championships in Thailand.

The Pinoy Para Games bets harvested 34 golds, 33 silvers, and 50 bronzes in the Cambodia meet to surpass the 28-30-46 collected last year in Indonesia. At the forefront of this were six-gold winner Darry Bernardo and the chess delegation, which delivered 13 mints.

Ramin, 17, ruled the 53rd Singapore International Open and became the first Filipino male bowler to win the prestigious event. 

Quizon topped the standard and blitz events in the premier U20 division and earned his third GM norm as he spearheaded the Philippines’ 16-gold, 37-silver, eight-bronze harvest and second overall standing behind Vietnam in the tourney.