Color of gold better than that of money

TAMA NA, SOBRA NA: When it comes to judging boxing bouts, be it in the SEA Games, Asian Games or even the Olympics, the Philippines, most of the time, ends up on the losing end.

The reason, according to jaded observers, is that the Filipinos have yet to penetrate the inner sanctum of the AIBA, the governing body in amateur boxing, where Prof. Anwar Chowdry of Pakistan has stood at the helm for over two decades now.

Chowdry, the big, fat guy you would love to hate, is being blamed for the stinging, painful and controversial losses of Filipino lightmiddleweight Chris Camat and flyweight Violito Payla to Pakistani boxers in the 14th Asian Games.

"Eh, pag hindi nila pinapanalo ‘yung mga Pakistani di nagalit sa kanila si Chowdry," said a hard-hitting Filipino columnist who loves boxing — amateur or professional. "Yung kalaban nga ni Camat, burado na ang mukha eh nanalo pa."

In Asia, the Pakistani professor who doesn’t even look and act like one is well-loved by the Koreans, the Thais and those from the "tans" — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, etc.

So, this explains why the Filipino boxers, known as Team Caltex, keep on winning the gold in tougher tournaments in Finland, Ireland, Greece, Spain or even in Cuba where Chowdry is not being worshipped as a king.

"Wala tayong magawa sa ganitong klaseng laban sa SEA Games or Asian Games," said an RP official. "Mani lang ang kaya natin ibigay eh steak ang binibigay ng kabila. Di ano pa ang kakainin ni...?"

SHOW ME THE MONEY: Even for the best Filipino billiards players, the pressure of playing for the gold is so much greater than the pressure of playing for the money.

Of course, it’s both for flag and country whenever these cue artists like Efren "Bata" Reyes, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Antonio Lining or Warren Kiamco go out and compete.

But, according to Reyes, it’s an entirely different case when it’s the gold medal, and not the money, on the table. He cited the 9-ball doubles final won by Bustamante and Lining, 11-9, over a Korean pair last Monday as a perfect example.

"Kung pera lang ang pinag-lalabanan diyan, murder na ‘yang mga Koreano. Pero iba ito dahil gold para sa bayan. Mas malaki ang pressure," he said as he watched the Filipino duo wrap up the match, win the first gold for billiards, and the second for the Philippines in the Busan Asiad.

The victory, of course, was worth P1.5 million for the winning pair. But again, the gold must come first.

MVP RACE: Three Chinese and one Japanese athlete are leading the race for the Samsung Most Valuable Performance award following the first full week of competition in the 14th Asian Games.

In swimming, Japan’s Kosuk Kitajima earned his spot in the coveted race for breaking a decade-old world record in the 200-m breastroke while Chinese boy wonder Wu Peng, a 15-year-old, has picked up three gold medals in the 200-m backstroke, 200-m butterfly and 400-m individual medley, in which he set a new Asian record.

Chinese lifter Le Maosheng made the list for smashing the world record in the clean and jerk on his way to the gold in the 62-kg division. And the fourth name in the short list is Zhang Nan, a 16-year-old Chinese gymnast, winner of four gold medals.

Candidates for the second week will be announced on Oct. 12 while thewinner will be declared on Oct. 14.