Thursday, October 05, 2006 4 retirees to return to rule Baguio scrabble tourney
THEY might be at the twilight of their lives but they still have the edge and can beat much younger foes in scrabble.
Andy Aquino, Antonio Malonzo, Delio Dimaano and Mario Miranda are the more veteran players in the Philippine scrabble scene but they still have a lot of spirit when playing in competitions, a fact that they have been some of the more dominating.
Malonzo, a retired police colonel now a practicing lawyer, won the 2003 edition of the "Baguio Scrabble Tournament (BST)" in 2003 by beating top lady player and fellow lawyer, Odette Rio, and has been one of the contenders for competitions here since then.
Aquino, a retired Air Force colonel, has constantly finished in the top 10 and in fact the leader in most of the early parts of past tournaments.
Miranda, a retired University of the Philippines (UP)-Los Baños professor, has seen action in the "World Scrabble Championship," besides being one of the stalwarts in the Philippine scrabble scene as president of the Scrabble Association of the Philippines (SAP).
They are four of the marked men when the sixth edition of the BST kicks off next weekend at the Villa Cordillera and they are raring to get a crack at the title. They are beyond 60 and still have lots of energy to give their younger opponents a run for their money.
The eldest player, however, is retired Air Force general Gene Palomo, who at 74 still plays competitively and with a board facing his opponent.
Palomo is not as active as his "younger" co-senior citizens and has only played once in Baguio during the "National Scrabble Championship" in 2004.
The four may get a lot of support yet from fellow senior citizens, who started this week their annual "Baguio Elderly Filipino Octoberfest" that commenced October 7 and will end on October 29.
The Octoberfest will also hold a sportsfest on October 14, at the same time Malonzo, Miranda, Dimaano and Aquino start their bid for the BST crown.
Some 50 scrabble players are expected to troop to this mountain city for the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Chief Arturo Lomibao, Villa Cordillera and Lexico-backed BST where close to P30,000 in cash prizes will be given to the winners.
"There will be lots of surprises this year as more prizes will be given away. Likewise, there will be a raffle and winners can take home prizes," said organizer Pigeon Lobien, who started the scrabble campaign as early as 1997 and publisher-editor of Lexico, the only scrabble oriented magazine in the country.
As expected, Rio is coming back to defend her title for the second time and seek a grand slam as well as her ninth title here. Out to stop him in the event backed by Joderek Bautista, 50s Diner, Rumours, Axa Philippines, National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), Benny Balajadia, Rotary Club of Baguio Sunrise (RCBS), Alpha Pet Care (APC) and Baguio Johnny Auto Supply (BJAS) is top male player Ronald Credo, the only three-time representative to the "World Scrabble Championship".
Local opposition will come from William Caluza, the highest ranked local, 24-hour marathon king Abe Gogoling and "Baguio Day Open" winner Malou Flores.
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