One Hot Summer

Davis Cup. AFC President’s Cup. CAFC Interclub. Summer Clinics. CESAFI Partners Cup. Truflex Tennis. Pinoy Pride 19 in Davao. Triathlon. BRO Nationals.

It’s around 33 to 34 degrees Celsius outside and everyone is complaining about the heat. No, not the Miami Heat and their recent winning streak; It’s the weather. Summer has made its announcement with a grand welcome and there’s nothing we can do about it, is there? But it’s all part of the summer fun; and the heat picks up even more in the world of sports. Where do we begin?

Cebu as a venue for international events. That’s already a norm these days and no longer comes as a surprise. The Davis Cup tie between the Philippines and Thailand kicked off Friday with both sides tied at 1-all after the opening day of singles. The doubles match was played last night while the crucial reverse singles games to be played today. This early, I have a funny feeling we’re going to a fifth match to decide this series. The bottom line winner out of this is Cebu once again and the sport of tennis. Although the closest to Cebu on the Philippine team is Johnny Arcilla’s father, this continues to be a big boost for Cebu Sports. The Truflex national age group tournament served as a fitting appetizer to the Davis Cup with some of the country’s best age group tennis players seeing action.

 Next up is the Asian Football Confederation President’s Cup, an Asian-wide interclub tournament among Asian football’s developing countries. Cebu is hosting the games of Group C which is composed of Global FC of the Philippines (Dan Palami), Dordoi of Krygystan, KRL of Pakistan and Yeedzin of Bhutan. They’re all coming to Cebu as a fitting follow-up to “Face Off: Azkals vs Lions,” Cebu football’s first ever international game. Two games per day will be played on May 8, 10 and 12 at the Cebu City Sports Center. Another game will be played at the Aboitiz Sports Field on May 12. This is another first for Cebu Sports, one of many firsts coming our way. But that’s not it. From the looks of it, we’re already anticipating the coming of Face Off 2 on June 8 (consider this as a fitting way to end the summer). Remember Vietnam? They’re itching to get back at the Azkals and they’re coming over, too. Drowned in all this are the BRO Nationals Tournament in April and the CAFC Interclub Football tournament. But we must all remember that without these local tournaments, these international games wouldn’t have come our way at all.

Boxing will take a break of sorts as it goes to Davao for Pinoy Pride 19 with Boom Boom Bautista, Rocky Fuentes and Arthur Villanueva heading the cast of Cebu-based boxers. I guess we can’t complain about this. Cebu can’t have ‘em all, and with the holding of the Davis Cup and AFC President’s Cup, we aren’t lacking in action, are we? Triathlon also gets a big lift this weekend with the holding of the NAGT and the Youth Olympic Qualifier events at the Alegre Beach Resort in Sogod. This may not be international in flavor but has foreign undertones since the top youth triathletes are vying for slots in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. Cebu’s top age group triathletes will also be there. They were also there at the Holy Week events in Bantayan Island, an annual event that has picked up in terms of following every year.

While basketball is the country’s top sport, I’m afraid this summer’s CESAFI Partners Cup isn’t holding up with the rest of the field in terms of popularity. Cebu’s top college teams will go at each other again in a pre-season affair with a new flavor of imports, new players and hopefully good-sized crowds. Southwestern University gets special mention here for venturing to the big city to play in the Filoil tournament, the summer’s biggest pre-season tournament featuring the country’s top college teams. I wonder if UV will follow suit next year.

And how can we forget the annual summer sports clinics? Hundreds of clinics are being held everywhere from schools to private gyms and barangay courts. While basketball is a usual sight, the other clinics drawing large numbers are those of football, swimming, dancesport, tennis, volleyball, taekwondo, badminton, karate, table tennis, and so much more. The other highlight of the summer will obviously be the beaches. Cebuanos become instant swimmers when they hit the seas from Bantayan all the way to Oslob.

And that’s all happening under the heat of the summer sun. Worried? Not at all. It’s a hot, sporty summer, the very one we all happen to love.

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Time-out: Congratulations on its opening to Tubigon Mototech Cycle Parts in Tubigon, Bohol. >>> You can reach me at [email protected].