Valle, Lariba claim Laos SEAG berths

MANILA, Philippines - Rodel Valle of Philippine National Police and Ian Lariba of Cagayan De Oro won the 2009 Hao Chin Sr. Memorial National Table Tennis men and women’s singles events, respectively, over the weekend at the Ateneo Manila Blue Eagle gym.   

Valle banked whipped Ting Ledesma of Fil-Chi, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 14-12, in the men’s final’s selection event to win the title and earn a ticket to the 25th Laos Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in December.       

The event was supported by Ateneo, UP, Topcoms marketing heads Malvin John Lim and Jesus Lim Jr. (TopPh.com),Uniwoodply, Green Paddle, Sports Vision, Imperium Technology, Winston Co and Aquahealth.

Besides Valle, Ledesma, Richard Gonzales and Julius Esposo also gain slots for SEAG in the event sanctioned by the Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP).

In the women’s open singles selection final, 14-year-old sensation Lariba beat Chrisma Capistrano, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9, for the crown and a slot for Laos SEAG set Dec. 9-18. She will be joined by Capistrano and Henezy Aragon. 

In other singles results, Dominic Colina of Perpetual bashed Jayson Trofeo of La Salle Lipa, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9, to capture the men’s non-rank singles crown and Rowena Morales of Saint Martin beat fellow Joma Sibal, 11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, for the women’s non-rank.