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Thursday, October 30, 2003
Davao frustrates Normin's Palaro gold bid
By Lynde Salgados
TUBOD, Lanao del Norte -- A complete reversal of fortune hit frontrunning Northern Mindanao in the last day of action, as Davao region made a fierce rally on the remaining ballgames to pocket both the elementary and secondary division titles of the 2003 Palarong Pambansa, which ended in a grand closing ceremony here Wednesday at world-class Mindanao Civic Center.
"We're a bit stunned because we thought we'll bring home the overall crown either in secondary or elementary levels. Unfortunately, naa diay mga crucial games sa last day nga wala nato naapil og monitor for comparison sa medal count," said Angel Magdale, delegation head of the 400-strong NMRAA contingent.
A 2-0 loss in a football match to Davao booters doused cold water to NMRAA's bid to secure the secondary title as Davraa -- representing Davao city, Davao Oriental, Davao Sur, Davao Norte and Compostella Valley -- edged them out with a 43-39-24 to 35-39-29 gold-silver-bronze difference.
In fact, Central Luzon, courtesy of its medal blitz in sepak takraw (9 golds), archery (7 golds) and gymnastics (7 golds), even dislodged Region 10 to third place with an awe-shocking 36-9-20 count at the end.
Under the medal core system, which has its strongest impact on ballgame competitions, the medal count will depend on the number of regular players to be fielded on the playing ground.
And since football has eleven, erstwhile third-running Davraa zoomed up to first place with its 11-gold take in the last played event of the week-long Palaro.
In its first ever twin-kill win in the two-decade old long history of the Palaro (formerly called as Scholastic Meet), the Davao region also relied on rich medal haul in athletics (18 golds) and volleyball girls (6 golds) to overtake NMRAA with a 42-33 gold lead.
The Northern Mindanao Regional Athletic Association -- composed of swimming powerhouse Iligan City, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Ozamis, Misamis Occidental and main host Lanao province -- had its biggest scoop of golds in swimming (29), little league baseball (9), taekwondo (9), table tennis (6) and lawn tennis (6).
Combining the gold total in elementary and secondary rivalries, the homeground jaggernauts would have emerged as overall champions for the first time sie the NMRAA's third-place finish in the 1978 Palaro hosted by Cagayan de Oro city.
But there's no thing as such in the technical aspect of the national meet for the country's young and budding student athletes.
"First time sab nga for the whole Philippines, ang medal performing athletes ra sa Region 10 ang walay madawat nga incentives," said delegation official Henry Limbaco.
(October 30, 2003 issue)
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