Cramming pays off for young gymnast

Maricris Batallones, who had shown great promise as a young rhythmic gymnast, had to cram to learn the basic of the sport three days before the event.

But it paid dividends for the 11-year-old lass from District 5 as she emerged the most bemedalled bet in the event in Day Three of the first Manila Youth Games at the Rizal Memorial Complex.

Batallones, daughter of a former Metrobank executive, claimed gold medals in freehand, ball and all-around events, joining Monday’s hero Daniel Padiz of Tondo at the victory podium as top gymnasts.

A grade seven student at Maria Montessori of Pasay City, Battalones topped the freehand event with a score of 18.4 with Sheryll Cortillo (17.65) finishing second and Gia Galvez (17.1) third.

She later returned to rule the ball category, garnering a score of 17.5 as against the 16.8 of Galvez and 16.1 of Cortillo.

Battalones won the all-around with the best output of 35.9. Galvez settled with the silver medal with 33.9 and Cortillo with the bronze medal with a 33.75 tally.

"I’m really happy with my performance because I took up the sport just last Wednesday," said Batallones. "I’d really like to thank my friends and classmates for getting me into this sport."

In lawn tennis, Juan Gabriel Peña of La Concordia and Jeffrey Villanueva downed their respective rivals to barge into the boys’ finals set today at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Courts.

Peña downed Mark Maneja of San Beda College, 8-5, and Villanueva disposed of John Francis Villanes of Barangay 627, 8-0, in the semifinals in this event sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission, PAGCOR, WG&A Super Ferry and Smart. – Joey Villar