(First of three parts)
MANILA, Philippines – It was a year of ups and downs in Philippine sports as the country basked in the glory of Manny Pacquiao’s feat of capturing eight world boxing championships in different weight classes and wallowed in grief with a paltry harvest of three gold medals at the Guangzhou Asian Games.
There were triumphs in sports other than boxing. Francisco (Django) Bustamante, 46, crushed Taiwan’s Kuo Po-Cheng, 13-7, to win the world 9-ball pool championship in Doha last July. Mia Piccio, 19, ruled the 80th Women’s Trans Amateur Golf Championships at the Country Club of Lincoln in Nebraska last August. The Philippine Patriots, co-owned by Mikee Romero and Tony Boy Cojuangco, bagged the inaugural Asean Basketball League (ABL) title via a 3-0 sweep of Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma in the best-of-five finals that ended in Jakarta last February.
In football, the Philippines’ “miracle” team copped the shield trophy by stunning host South Africa, 2-1, in overtime at the Street Child World Cup Indoor Championships in Durban last March. The victory capped an incredible surge where the Filipinos, coached by Jess Landagan, shocked Brazil, 6-2, and Ukraine, 3-0, after losing to England, 4-2, and Tanzania, 2-0, in the primary division.
The national under-18 team coached by Eric Altamirano claimed the SEABA basketball crown in Myanmar last July and the Philippines clinched its first-ever SEABA women’s basketball champion at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium last October. Fil-Am jin Samuel Morrison, 20, clobbered 2006 Asian Games gold and 2004 Athens Olympic bronze medalist Sup Song Byun of South Korea, 12-9, for the gold medal in the featherweight division at the Korean Open last September. The Philippine squad of Anthony Rey Matias, Jean Pierre Sabido and Brian Alan Sabido took the gold medal in the first team male category of the fifth World Poomsae Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, last October.
In powerlifting, Lily Pecante won the gold medal at the World Masters Benchpress Championships in Orlando last April. She also took four gold medals to earn the women’s masters I Best Lifter award at the Asian Championships in Mongolia last May. Anita Koykka, 50, set a new world record of 353 pounds, more than thrice her body weight, in the women’s masters 52-kilogram squat event of the Asian Championships. In all, Koykka gained four gold medals in squat, benchpress, deadlift and total lift to earn the women’s masters II Best Lifter trophy.
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To be sure, there were close calls, too. Dennis Orcollo and Roberto Gomez came in second to China’s Fu Jianbu and Li Hewen in the World Cup of Pool Championships at Robinson’s Place in Ermita last September. The Filipino cue artists made it to the finals after a harrowing 9-8 upset of Chinese-Taipei’s Ko Pin Yi and Chang Jun Lin. Only a few weeks ago, the national team – known as the Azkals – lost a pair of 1-0 decisions to Indonesia in the semifinals of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup in Jakarta. It was the Philippines’ best finish in the 14-year history of the Southeast Asia’s most prestigious football tournament. In boxing, veteran Juanito Rubillar lost a pair of hairline decisions to South Africa’s Hekkie Budler for the IBO lightflyweight title in Gauteng. Rubillar, 33, dropped a majority decision last February and a split verdict last June. Rubillar has been thwarted in six attempts to win a world title since turning pro in 1994.
At the Bowling World Cup in France last October, Biboy Rivera got off to a scorching start to lead in the early going but faltered in the end, losing to eventual champion Michael Schmidt of Canada in the semifinals to settle for third. Apple Posadas took fifth place in the women’s category.
Paulo Bersamina, 12, posted the best scores in the final four rounds but wound up a strong third in the 14-nation Asian Youth Invitational Chess Championships in Beijing last July. The Far Eastern high school freshman compiled six wins, two draws and a loss in a scintillating performance accentuated by his win over overall champion Wei Yi of China.
The heartbreakers were severe. In the Asian Games, the Philippines could only bring home three golds, four silvers and nine bronzes – a comedown from the previous haul of four golds, six silvers and nine bronzes in 2006. However, the national delegation was reduced from 233 in Busan to 188 in Guangzhou. Several Filipino challengers were repulsed in bids for a world boxing championship. The list includes Bernabe Concepcion, Ciso Morales, Marvin Sonsona, Balweg Bangoyan, Eric Barcelona and Ronelle Ferreras. Dethroned as world titlists were Rodel Mayol and Brian Viloria, leaving only Pacquiao and Donnie Nietes as the country’s reigning world champions by year-end.
At the World Youth Amateur Boxing Championships in Baku last May, lightflyweight Mark Anthony Barriga fell a win shy of earning a ticket to the Singapore Youth Olympics in losing a highly-disputed 6-4 decision to Ireland’s Ryan Burnett in the quarterfinals. Barriga, 17, eliminated three highly-touted favorites – China’s Zhang Liang, Thailand’s Tanes Ongjungta and Russia’s Nikita Fedorchenko – before he was robbed of a clear win by Morrocan referee Zoubid Hassan who awarded Burnett four penalty points to settle the outcome.
At the World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, last October, the hard-luck Philippine squad of Wesley So, Eugene Torre, John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo and Richard Bitoon ended up 50th of 144 countries despite a 37th seeding. The ladies team of Chardine Camacho, Catherine Perena, Shercila Cua, Rulp Ylem Jose and Jedara Docena took 44th place of 115.
The country’s medal shutout in the first Youth Olympics in Singapore last August was another damper. The delegation of Jason Patrombon of tennis, Jasmine Alkhaldi and Khing Lacuna of swimming, Kirk Barbosa of taekwondo, Bobby Ray Parks, Michael Tolomia, Jeron Teng and Michael Pate of 3-on-3 basketball and weightlifter Patricia Llena came home empty-handed. (To be continued)