Phl memory team racks up 4 golds

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Memory team pocketed four gold, six silver and three bronze medals in the Hong Kong International Memory Championships at the Lutheran Secondary School in Waterloo Road, Hong Kong recently.

Mark Anthony Castaneda, the first Filipino Grandmaster of Memory, captured three gold medals in Speed Cards, Historic/Future Dates and Names and Faces while winning a silver in the Spoken Numbers and two bronzes in the 30-Minute Binary and Speed Number.

On the other hand, Grandmaster Erwin Balines took home the other gold in the Abstract Images while bagging four silvers in 30-Minute Cards, Historic/Future Dates, 30-Minute Binary Digits and Names and Faces. He also took a bronze in the 30-Minute Numbers. Balines was also named the first Sportsmanship Award.

Candidate-Grandmaster Axel Tabernilla, for its part, won a bronze in Spoken Numbers.

Aside from the Philippines, Mongolia and Hong Kong, memory athletes from China, Indonesia, Japan, India, Macau, South Korea and Canada also competed in the event.

The team was organized by the Philippine Mind Sports Association.

“The competition here was very tough, especially the Mongolians who sent a very strong team,” said head coach, Roberto Racasa, founder of Philippine Memory Sports and course director of the Center For Global Best Practices.

The event was backed by Hotel Sogo, W1N International and Rotary Club of Pasig.