Satera saves CV's day with lawn tennis gold

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN, Philippines – Cebuano netter Fritz Satera saved Central Visayas from a gold medal blackout in the penultimate day of the 55th Palarong Pambansa after topping the secondary boys singles event of lawn tenis competition yesterday at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center here.

Satera somehow saved his best for last as in his final playing year in the annual sports conclave for elementary and high school athletes, he clinched his first ever gold after trouncing Francisco Santos III of Mimaropa region in the final, 8-1.

Santos scored the first point of the match, but the 16-year-old Satera racked up eight consecutive points to claim what is by far the most memorable win of his young career.

"I really trained hard because I wanted to make an impression in my last playing year in the Palaro," said the incoming freshman student taking up Bachelor of Science in Accountancy at the University of San Carlos (USC).

As of this writing, powerhouse National Capital Region (NCR) is virtually assured of claiming the overall championship with 141 points followed by Region XII with 73.2 points. Central Visayas is at temporary third wrth 72 points, just a hairline ahead of Western Visayas.

Completing the top 10 list are Region IV-A (68), CAR (49), Region X (47.5), Region I (27.7), Region III (22.5) and Region V (14). The points came from arnis, archery, taekwondo, gymnastics and secondary boys lawn tennis.

In team events, Central Visayas trains its sights for potential golds in volleyball and football.

In elementary girls volleyball, four-time champion Catmon Elementary School is knocking on a record fifth Palaro title after it clobbered Calabarzon in the semifinal, 26-24, 25-23. The Vilma Veloso-mentored volleybelles will go up against their rival last year, Western Visayas, in the gold medal match today.

In the secondary boys division, the Abellana National School (ANS)-manned CV stormed into the championship after ousting Central Luzon, 25-19, 26-24. The reigning Milo Little Olympics (MLO) national champion will clash with NCP in the final today.

In the secondary girls class though, CV, composed of players from Pajo National High School (PNHS), settled for bronze after fending off Mimaropa Region, 25-19, 25-23.

In football, the CV booters from Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) are on course for back-to-back championships after it whipped Mimaropa region, 2-0, with goals from Jay Arrizabal and Valentino Calvo.

The younger Bosconians, on the other hand, have yet to face NCR in elementary boys semifinal early this morning as their game was postponed yesterday due to heavy rains.

In secondary girls softball, CV could only hand a silver after it vowed to the Western Visayas batters, 0-9.

In a sad twist of fate in gymnastics, Mary Carmelli Garrovillo laid one big, fat egg this time, a sharp contrast from his spectacular five-gold haul last year. Doubling her agony was the fact that she lost to a first year high school gymnast from NCR in Ariel Nicole Orella.

“It’s five golds to nothing for me. I felt a little sad because this would be my last Palaro. But I’m happy with my performance and I have nothing to lose,” said Garrovillo, who settled for only silver in the ball, hoop, ribbon and team events and a bronze in the rope of rhythmic sportive gymnastics. (FREEMAN)