RP dribblers to assault Guinness record

The race is on to find the Filipino who can break the Guinness World Record of dribbling a basketball for 26 hours and 40 minutes.

Leslie Suntay of PurePlay Sports Management said yesterday he is confident a new mark will be set when 100 top finishers from elimination legs in Metro Manila, Davao, Cebu and Dagupan congregate in the Astig Revicon Guinness Dribbling Challenge finals on Oct. 28 at the Pasay Sports Complex.

"Yes, the Filipino can do it," said Suntay. "I believe that among the Guinness World Records, the dribbling record should belong to a Filipino since our country’s unrivaled passion for basketball is known and acknowledged world-wide. I have been told by a few observers that beating the record is extremely difficult but I think if there is someone who can break the record, it’s a Filipino."

The Metro Manila eliminations are set today at the Olympic Badminton Club on Rodriguez Avenue, Bagumbayan, along C-5 Libis, Quezon City. Registration starts at 6 a.m. and only the first 800 will be listed to attempt the Guinness challenge. The top 55 finishers will qualify for the finals.

PurePlay is awarding AMA short-course scholarships to the top five Metro Manila placers. Additionally, the first placer will receive P10,000, the runner-up P5,000, the third placer P3,000 and the fourth and fifth placers, P1,000 each. 

Each contestant must fill in a registration form with 12 empty foil packs of Revicon Forte and show proof of birthdate like a driver’s license, birth certificate or a legitimate ID. A Revicon selling booth will be set up at the venue. A participant must be at least 18 years old.

Organizers are also giving P10,000 to a barangay, school or organization if it represents the majority of the 55 Metro Manila finalists.

The first elimination leg for 15 qualifiers was held in Davao last Sept. 30. Another  leg for 15 qualifiers is scheduled at the University of Pangasinan on Oct. 14 and the final  leg for the last 15 qualifiers will be at San Carlos University, Cebu, on Oct. 15.

"We have received many calls from as far as Iloilo, claiming there are dribblers who have already surpassed 27 hours using Guinness guidelines which allow a five-minute break for every one hour of continuous dribbling," said Suntay. 

Former Kenyan national cager Joseph Odhiambo, 41, set the dribbling Guinness World Record during the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Weekend in Houston last Feb. 17. The old record was 24 hours. Odhiambo took about 140,000 dribbles on Houston’s paved streets from the City Hall Park to the Public Library to the Hobby Center to the Performing Arts City Hall to Foley’s Department Store and around the 450,000 square-foot George R. Brown Convention Center, where the NBA Jam Session was set up, to establish the new standard.