Friday, April 11, 2008 Karatedo, table tennis haul 8 golds in Prisaa
THE Central Visayas karatedo and table tennis team started the gold medal haul for Region 7 in the 2008 Private Schools Athletic Association (Prisaa) National Games in Zamboanga City yesterday.
The table paddlers and the karatedo team finished with four gold medals each as Central Visayas started to make its presence felt after two days of competition.
The Karatedo team also contributed three silvers and four bronze medals.
April Camp of the University of San Jose-Recoletos was Central Visayas’ first double gold medalist after winning the Women’s Kata and the kumite gold in the 48-kilo and Under division.
James Dawa of University of Cebu followed suit with a gold in the Men’s Kata and added a silver medal in the 70-kilo and above Kumite.
Johnrey Abasolo of the University of the Visayas also won the gold medal in the 60 kilo weight class.
Winning silver medals were Melissa Ygay of UV in the women’s 65-kilo division and Jason Aladad of the Bohol Institute of Technology-International College in the Men’s 55-kilo division kumite.
Central Visayas also got bronze medals from Melin Alin, Mary Ann Vergara, Rino Ricablanca, and Art John Rosaroso.
Prisaa-7 karatedo coach Roger Requillo, however, was not happy of the performance of the players.
Overconfident
“We could have swept all the gold medals if they just gave their best during training. Most of the players lacked training, while some were overconfident,” said Requillo.
On the other hand, Central Visayas was not as impressive in athletics.
Anthony Santillan settled for a silver in the 100 meter run, Anselmo Esgana also settled for silver in the triple jump and the Men’s 4x100 relay team of Santillan, Anselso Codilla, Harin Melendez and Jorge Pinanonang also finished second.
Jason Dumoran settled for bronze in the men’s high jump, while in Taekwondo Hazel Yen Yusoya of UC won a silver medal for the Central Visayas.
Despite the slow start, Prisaa-7 secretariat and UC athletic director Bernard Ricablanca is confident of a turnaround from the Central Visayas athletes today.
In football, it’s a do-or-die battle today as Central Visayas faces Calabarzon in their final elimination round game.
University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJR), which represents Central Visayas, had a 1-1 draw with the home team Zamboanga yesterday after an own goal five minutes before time.
Proud
The goalkeeper deflected the corner kick into a defender and into the goal, handing the host an easy equalizer.
Before the accidental goal, Central Visayas was ahead courtesy of Eduardo Buglosa’s goal.
Coach Joselito Bono is still proud of what his team displayed yesterday even with the mishap.
“They played very well this morning. They were very good in offense and defense,” Bono told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.
If Central Visayas wins today, they will immediately be in the semifinals. A loss will dampen that chance.
A win yesterday could have insured a spot for them in the semifinals.
Coach Bono will still be using the same strategy today.
“We will still do what we did last time. Man to man, double time and let the ball move until the end of the duration,” said Coach Bono.
In table tennis, Region 7 collected four golds after dominating the men’s team event yesterday in Zamboanga City.
The men’s team of Michael Motel, Jay Eribert Impuesto, Glendo Nayre, Jonathan Jacalan and John Conrad Impuesto, with Jiji Honoridez as coach, defeated Region 6, 2-
1, in the finals to win their fourth consecutive crown in the National Prisaa.
“The game was very crucial since our preparation was set for the National Capital Region team and we were not expecting to meet Region 6 in the finals. I am happy with this win since there was a big pressure on us especially when we were recognized during the SAC (Sportswriters Association of Cebu) awards last month” Honoridez said. (RCM, EKA, NSM)
