THE Cebuano athletes will come home, not with medals, but with a more enriched understanding of other culture and will be better players for the experience brought about by competing against players from other nations.
The Greater Cebu Sports Organizing Committee’s (GCSOC) maiden voyage last year in the Arafura Games was a staggering success in Darwin, Australia, as its athletes came up with 11 gold medals to lift the RP team to a decent 11th place finish.
This year, however, the GCSOC team came out empty-handed in the International Children’s Games in San Francisco, California, USA, as its last hope, Jean Philippe Jawad-Honoridez, failed to advance in the table tennis competition.
Honoridez, a Palarong Pambansa campaigner from Colegio del Sto. Niño was able to secure a slot to the championship draw of the boys table tennis competition. However, he fell short after losing to Shi Zheng of Shanghai from the People’s Republic of China, 6-11, 6-11 and 3-11.
Despite losing in their opening matches, the other Cebuano athletes remained positive and in fact were making waves in the consolation bracket of their respective events.
Havoc
Dannel Jay Tormis, the table tennis stalwart from the University of Cebu, wrecked havoc in the consolation bracket. After having a bad start in the meet and failing to win a single match in the qualifying round, Tormis, a silver medal winner in the Palaro, won all of his matches yesterday to take the top plum.
He first won over Rok Kaker of Ravne- na Korskem of Slovenia, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7, in the quarterfinals and later defeated
Amos Fishman-Resheff of New York, 11-2, 11-2, 11-3.
He encountered little challenge in the final round, where he faced off with Meschach Pila of Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago. He dropped a set but managed to recover and win the match, 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-10.
In tennis, where the Cebuanos’ journey was also cut short early, Jacob Lagman, one of Cebu’s top junior netters, made up for this by annihilating his opponents in the consolation bracket.
Memories
Lagman will still have a pocketful of memories as he managed to defeat Tarun Chopra of New Delhi, India and Aymeric Hadl of Montreux, Switzerland.
Despite this, the young Cebuano athletes in the competition still obtained what they came for—experience, exposure, the opportunity to play against players with different backgrounds and friendship.
“All of them really did their best. They may have not won but that trip was really worth it for out athletes,” said Julie Lagman, the mother of Jacob and Jessica, who are both competing in the tennis event.
“Despite losing, they will all go home better players because of the rich experience that will never be forgotten,” Julie added.
The competitions, which is sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, is geared towards strengthening friendship and understanding among the different races from 50 countries taking part in the weeklong event. (MCB)
