MANILA -- Two Filipino students beat more than 100 contestants from other countries to emerge as the champion of the recently concluded 3rd Brand's Sudoku International Open 2009 Princess Somsawali Cup in Bangkok, Thailand.

Named as the grand champion in the event held last April 18 to 19 was John Robert Valcos, 17, a second year college student taking up Information Technology at the St. Mary's College of Baliwag, Bulacan; while 14-year-old Sarah Jane Cua, a second year high school student of Pangasinan Universal Institute in Dagupan City was the first runner-up.

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Aside from the Philippines and the host country, the other participating countries were India, Bulgaria, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

Valcos took home $5,000 in cash (about P233,500 at the current exchange rate) and the championship trophy; while Cua received some 60,000 baht (about P84,000) and a trophy.

Cua trailed her "kababayan" by only one point, according to Dr. Simon Chua, president of the Mathematics Trainers Guild (MTG) which assisted the two in training and other preparations prior to the event.

She said the recent event only shows that Filipino students are at par with their counterparts in other countries.

"We are really happy about this win," she said.

For his part, Valcos expressed gratitude to his parents, friends, classmates, teachers, and the MTG for making his dream come true.

According to Cua, her victory is not only for herself but also for the country as well.

The first World Sudoku Championship was held in Italy on March 10-12, 2006. The winner was Jana Tylova of the Czech Republic.

The second World Sudoku Championship was held in Prague from March 28 to April 1, 2007. The individual champion was Thomas Snyder of the USA. The team champion was Japan.

Synder repeated his winning performance by bagging the top prize in the 3rd World Sudoku Championship held in Goa, India last year.

Valcos and Cua were also the runner-up and the champion, respectively, in the 3rd Philippine Sudoku Super Challenge held in January.

The other members of the Philippine delegation to the Bangkok competition were Timothy James Tan of Trinity Christian School in Bacolod City; Mariel Alexis Dee and Mark Benedict Tan of Ateneo de Manila University; Ma. Czarina Angela Lao of St. Jude Catholic School and Matthew Chris Chan of St. Stephen High School, both in Manila; Michelle Neri of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Montessori School and Jayhan Regner of Xavier University, both in Cagayan de Oro City; Nathaniel Ryan Ang of Philadelphia High School in Quezon City; and Mark Davidson Cua of Pangasinan Universal Institute.

Sudoku is a logic-based combinatorial number placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 boxes (also called blocks or regions) contained the digits from one to nine only one time each. The puzzle setter provides a partially completed grid.

Completed puzzles are usually a type of Latin square with an additional constraint on the contents of individual regions.

The modern puzzle was invented by an American architect, Howard Garns, in 1979 and published by Dell Magazines under the name "Numbers in Place.

It was popularized in 1986 by the Japanese puzzle company Nikoli under the name Sudoku, meaning single number and it become an international hit in 2005. (AH/Sunnex)