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Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Golden athletes and volleyball action in Mandaue
By Jade S. Violeta
Two athletes from Mandaue City shared the spotlight as they separately broke national records in the Palarong Pambansa in Iloilo City.
Delivering Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association’s first gold in record-breaking fashion, sixth grader Irin Balauran leapt to a new mark of 10.42 meters to win the gold in Elementary Girls triple jump at the Iloilo Sports Complex.
Balauran’s mark shattered the previous record of 10.23 set by Southern Mindanao Region Athletic Association’s Almira Bayot during the 1998 Centennial Palaro in Bacolod City.
Days later, another Cviraa bet logged a record-shattering performance in athletics as Clifford John Bonjoc became the second record-breaking performer for the region with a new mark in Secondary Boys discus throw.
The 17-year-old Cebuano lobbed the iron 41.62 meters to shatter the 36.04m mark set by Alejandro Lonzaga in the 2003 Palaro.
Mandaue also took the spotlight in the same month when it hosted the 5th Asian Youth Girls Volleyball Championships at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex, where host Philippines could only watch from the sidelines as powerhouses China and Korea battled it out in a steady stream of sweat and tears with China prevailing in the end.
Although the Philippine team ended its campaign without a single win, losing its final match to Vietnam in straight sets, 25-16, 25-19, 25-14, in the battle for seventh place, the tournament was never short of exciting battles.
Defending champion China got emotional after escaping with a victory over Korea in a heart-pounding, five-set encounter that needed more than two hours to settle – bringing both teams to tears in the end.
But perhaps the most tear-drenching episode was Chinese-Taipei’s semi-miraculous 21-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-12 victory over Japan in a wild-and-wooly battle for third place and the last remaining ticket for the World U-18 Girls Tournament.
Tears from the Japanese players came rolling down with bitterness, regret and frustration after collapsing in front of some 50 Japanese nationals of the Mitsumi Friendship circle who brought along a 10-girl cheering squad complete with uniforms.
(December 27, 2005 issue)
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