Tiong Lian student wins Accel shootout

Computer application sophomore student Taffy Lim of the Tiong Lian Community won the first-ever Accel 3-Point Shootout Challenge by the slimmest of margins over Uno High School’s Andrei Leonel Tanlo, 30-29, in the finals at the Blue Eagle Gym on the Ateneo campus in Loyola Heights last Saturday.

Lim, 19, advanced to the finals after topping the 11th of 20 elimination legs involving over 4,000 contestants at the Chiang Kai Shek College. The St. Stephen’s High School star joined 39 other survivors in the culmination of 10 months of eliminations in schools and towns all over Luzon, from Vigan in the north to Naga City in the south.

Tournament director and Accel endorser Allan (Triggerman) Caidic supervised the conduct of the competitions for 16 to 19 year-olds from start to finish. The 10 top finishers in the finals gained a scholarship to enroll in Caidic’s Academy of 3-Point Shooting which will open next year.

Aside from Lim and Tanlo, the other top 10 placers were Roman Ferrer of Valenzuela City, John Marion Wilson of Rizal, Jaypee Beleucion of Letran, Ojie Maniquiz of Manila, Khasim Minza of Rizal, Dylan Ababou of the University of Santo Tomas, Mark Saquilayan of San Sebastian College in Cavite and Santiago Bornilla of Caloocan City.

Sporteum chairman Philip Go and president Willie Ortiz said Accel will sponsor a second 3-Point Shootout Challenge next year, possibly to include eliminations in the Visayas and Mindanao.

"Three-point shooting is a dying art," said Ortiz. "We’ve seen how good outside shooting is the key to victory in international competitions. We lost by a three-point shot to South Korea in the Busan Asian Games semifinals in 2002 and South Korea went on to upset China in the finals, also because of good outside shooting. We are fortunate that Allan has agreed to supervise our tournament and open his own school to develop better outside shooters."

Aside from the scholarship, Lim took home P20,000 cash and P10,000 worth of Accel products. Tanlo earned P10,000 cash and P5,000 worth of Accel products while third placer Ferrer P5,000 cash and P2,500 worth of Accel products. The other finalists received P1,000 cash and P1,000 worth of Accel products.

It wasn’t an easy road to the finals. The 40 elimination survivors shot two consecutive one-minute rounds of 25 balls in five racks each to determine the 10 finalists. There were four players tied for the eighth spot and a tiebreak elevated Wilson and Maniquiz to the finals, leaving behind Elson Lee of Xavier School and John Patrick Umali of Batangas.

Caidic explained that the two successive rounds were meant to test the players’ accuracy, concentration, focus and stamina.

"When I was playing, I used to take at least 200 practice three-point shots a day," said Caidic. "That was to make my shot more consistent even when I’m tired. So we decided to test the boys’ pulse in two straight rounds. We did it to push the boys to the limit."

Caidic said he also positioned each rack in front of the player instead of at the side because a shooter usually takes a pass straight not sideways. In the finals, Caidic allowed a second round where each shooter was given a maximum of three minutes to finish the 25 balls "without pressure."

To show the contestants how it’s done, Caidic went through two rounds of shooting in an exhibition. He proved he still has what it takes in scoring 18 points in his second round. Nobody scored higher the entire tournament.

In a celebrity contest, Red Bull’s Mick Pennisi combined forces with comedian Berwin Meily and a fan picked out of the audience, Dan Chan, to top a three-way shootout. San Miguel Beer’s Denver Lopez, two-time pro MVP Benjie Paras, Sta. Lucia Realty’s Paolo Mendoza and 1996 Atlanta Olympics silver medalist Onyok Velasco also participated in the celebrity shootout.

The whole-day Accel program started with a morning band challenge where Balaraw Ni Miguel emerged the champion. The rap group Twyz 2 Beat and the ASAP Bounce Dancers performed entertainment numbers during the afternoon program.