Pila, Gabasa share MVPSF match play top honors

MANILA, Philippines — Rolando Pila battled back from three holes down in morning play then banked on a strong finishing kick to frustrate Harvey Sytiongsa, 2-up, while Junia Gabasa thwarted Pamela Mariano in the stretch to fashion out a 5&4 triumph in the finals of the fourth MVPSF Visayas Regional Match Play Championships at Cebu Country Club yesterday.

Pila, who bundled out Martin Mendoza, 3&2, in the quarters then ousted fancied Aidric Chan, 2-up, in the semis, groped for form in the early going of their marathon 36-hole title duel and still trailed his fellow club bet by three with only 10 holes left. But he birdied Nos. 9 and 11 to pull within, yielded another hole on the 12th but took three straight holes from No. 14 to go 1-up before birdying the last hole to complete a come-from-behind 2-up victory in men’s play.

The top seeded Gabasa, on the other hand, slugged it out on even terms with the No. 2 Mariano after 18 holes but won Nos. 5, 6 and 8 before winning Nos. 13 and 14 to wrap up the ladies crown in the event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, PLDT Group, Cignal and Metro Pacific and hosted by CCC.

Earlier, Masaichi Otake birdied the 17th to force an all-square match with Aidric Chan then parred the last to steal a 1-up victory over last week’s Philippine Junior champion in their duel for third place in the event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.