THE Year 2016 will go down the as the most productive year for Cordillera based athletes with Eduard Folayang and Divine Wally bringing the region to the world map pulling off key victories in their respective sports to catapult Baguio as one of the country’s world class producing athletes.
Sun*Star Baguio takes a look at the ups and downs of the region’s athletes who have hogged the limelight throughout the year.
Folayang wins One Champ belt.
Eduard Folayang completed his journey through ONE Championship’s lightweight ranks by stopping Asian MMA legend Shinya Aoki by technical knockout within three rounds to clinch the lightweight world championship In November.
Aoki dominated the first round with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but Folayang came alive in the second round as he opened up his striking, showcasing world-class wushu talent. In the third round, Folayang rocked Aoki against the cage fence and finished him off with ground-and-pound.
Folayang’s victory was also redemption for Team Lakay as it finally ended the mastery of Japanese fighters in One Championship against the best Filipino mixed martial arts team.
It can be recalled former world featherweight champion Honorio Banario lost his belt to then champion Koji Oishi while up and coming fighter Joshua Pacio fell to a much experienced Yoshitaka Naito during their world strawweight title match.
Wally bags double gold medal
Divine Wally bagged gold after scoring a technical knock-out in the second round on the 48 kilograms women's sanda division in the 9th Asian Wushu Championships held in Taoyuan, Taiwan in September.
Wally edged Indian Ranjana Devi Laishram with strong releases of leg kicks and head punches until she was able to pin her opponent for the win in the finals.
Before barging into the finals, Wally also won against Bpkyeong Byeon of South Korea in the second round of the semifinals. The 19-year-old Wally, who traces her roots in Sadanga, Mountain Province, made history last year as the first Filipina to win gold in the World Wushu Championships.
Wally also made history after becoming the first Filipina to bag a back to back gold medal in an international sanda competition.
Wally’s kicks and punches proved no match for her opponents as she won over Luan Thi Hoang of Vietnam and Farida Elsodany of Egypt en route to a gold medal finish in the 8th Sanda World Cup from November 1 to 6.
It will be the fourth time Wally and Hoang squared off with each other with the Baguio girl winning all their math-ups. Wally and Hoang first saw action against each other in 2013 during the Asian Junior Wushu Championships, then in Indonesia during the World Championships, and another in Taiwan.
Hongitan’s Olympic dreams dashed
Lady archer Kareel Meer Hongitan failed to get the last remaining spot in archery for the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Kareel's father and coach John Hongitan confirmed the 19 year-old athlete will not be joining the Summer Games.
The World Archery Federation earlier announced a possible wildcard berth for Hongitan but in a social media post by the Philippine Sports Commission, the wild card was given to Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar for the Women's Individual Recurve.
In the recently concluded 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya, Turkey, Hongitan bowed to Great Britain's Naomi Folkard in the fourth stage via a 4-6 decision in the Olympic qualifying tournament.
The tourism student however was given another shot after the WAF arranged a final contest among the top eight losers to form another bracket where she ended atop other international competitors where she turned to have the strongest chance for the wild card.
Belingon, Pitpitunge, Pacio falters in title bid
Kevin Belingon, of the famed Team Lakay opened 2016 on a high note after given a chance to square off against Bibiano Fernandes for the One bantamweight world championship.
However, the Brazilian dominated Belingon on the mat before sealing the deal with a nasty kimura to complete the fourth defense in Changsha, China.
Later in March, Jenel Lausa stunned Pacific X-Treme Combat bantamweight titlist Crisanto Pitpitunge, pulling off a split decision to crown himself the flyweight champion in PXC 51 at the Solaire Resort and Casino.
Lausa earned the nod of two judges, 48-47, to snare the vacant title stripped from Alvin Cacdac, who failed to make the weight in PXC 48 late last year. Pitpitunge gained a 48-47 decision from the other judge, but Lausa took care of business after two judges scored 48-47 for the newly minted champ.
Yoshitaka Naito of Chiba, Japan meanwhile successfully defended his ONE strawweight world championship with a gutsy victory over Joshua Pacio of the famed Team Lakay in October.
Pacio tagged Naito repeatedly with accurate strikes, utilizing his world-class wushu sanshou skills to stifle the champion who tried repeated takedowns. In the third round however, Naito came out of nowhere and was able to take Pacio down, secure his back and lock in a rear naked choke to force the tap.
Anton as the next karting champion
Hopes are high for Castrol-Yokohama driver Iñigo Anton who is expected to be the country’s top karter following his victories.
Anton battled it out with Singaporean ace Aidan Quek in a crazy finish during the Asian Karting Open Championship held at the Carmona Race Track in August. Anton and Quek engaged in a toe-to-toe race before the Singaporean got the better of the Baguio racer with just .010 of a second in the finish line.
On board his Kart Plaza- Kilton prepared racing kart, Anton started third on the grid during the final heat of the Formula Cadet division, tucked in behind pole setter Quek as soon as the green was given.
The Mark Young Racing backed Anton then kept the pressure on Quek for thirteen laps only to relinquish it back to the Singaporean on the 14th.
Baguio reclaims Batang Pinoy 2016 crown
Baguio athletes finally reclaimed the over-all championship of the Batang Pinoy 2016 National Competitions held in Tagum City, Davao Del Norte from November 27 to December 2 capturing 55 gold, 41 silver and 41 bronze medals.
Placing second and third are Cebu and Davao, respectively. Baguio came in second to Quezon City last year with Cebu city placing third.
The young athletes competed in 26 sporting disciplines including archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball 3 on 3, boxing, chess, cycling, dancesport, gymnastics, judo, karatedo, lawn tennis, pencak silat, rugby football, sepaktakraw, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon/duathlon, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu.
Mayor Mauricio Domogan praised the athletes and their coaches for bringing honor not only to themselves and their families but to the city as well.
Baguio boy named top UFL goalie
Former Baguio City National High School goal keeper Nelson Gasic must be in cloud nine after he was named as top goalkeeper in the recently concluded 2016 season of the United Football League (UFL).
Gasic last played for City High in 2010 and represented Baguio in the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association and eventually the Palarong Pambansa in the same year before he was recruited in the Lyceum of the Philippines University and saw action in the NCAA.
The former CARAA goal keeper is currently playing in the UFL where he bested other foreign and local goalies in the first professional football league in the country.
Gasic, according to UFL, has 10 clean sheets in 19 games while allowing only 16 goals during JP Voltes FC 2016 campaign.
Before his emergence as top goal keeper in the UFL, Gasic played for the Cordillera Goshenland Football Club where he honed his keeping skills.
Cordi crashes to ninth in Palarong Pambansa
Despite failing to maintain its fourth overall finish last year, Cordillera Administrative Region athletes remain positive after a dismal ninth place overall finish in the 2016 Palarong Pambansa held in Albay.
The region came crashing to number nine after collecting 12 gold, 19 silver, and 15 bronze medals at the close of the week-long national sports competition backed by the Department of Education after a strong second place in the opening day.
The region capped a total of 5-7-4 gold-silver-bronze from the elementary entries for a number ten spot in their division, while the secondary counterpart placed number eight with 7-12-11.
CAR’s taekwondo team led the region in the medal haul garnering 8-11-7 in total as the elementary jins produced 5-4-2 with the secondary squad adding 3-7-5.
Arnis on the other hand collected 3-1-2 coming from the secondary girls’ division while the other two bronze medals from the high school boys’ performance.
CAR failed to sustain its overall finish in archery last year as it only managed to draw one 1-2-3 both coming from its boys and girls squads. They were overwhelmed by the surprising team of Socsargen who took the overall plum this year with 3-1-2 and Central Visayas’ 2-2-1 with Zamboanga region pulling in 1-2-2 medals.
Swimming produced three silver and one bronze from the elementary entries, while athletics finished with one silver and one bronze, while chess also duplicated the finish with one silver and one bronze.
CAR dropped five notches below from number four during the 2015 Palaro held in Tagum City, Davao Del Norte after bagging a total of 24-22-16, its highest national ranking in the annual Palaro.
UC as top wushu athlete producer
The University of the Cordilleras has became the home of world-class wushu athletes in the country, delivering 22 gold, 33 silver, and 22 bronze medals in international events in 15 years and served as a feeder to the Philippine team and represented the country in the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games, World Cup, Olympics, and World Wushu Championship.
Mark Sangiao set the tradition for sports excellence for UC after winning the first gold medal among Baguio fighters in the 21st Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia in 2001.
Noted UC alumni whio has won medals in the international competition include Eduard Folayang, Mark Eddiva, Benjie Rivera, Daniel Parantac, Divine Wally, Marianne Mariano, Kariza Kris Chan, John Keithley Chan, Rhea May Rifani, Marvin Sicomen, Thornton Lou Sayan, Engelbert Addongan, Natasha Laxamana, and Benito Amado.
UB baller faces ban
A UNIVERSITY of Baguio Cardinal faces a lifetime ban following unsportsman like conduct during a semi - finals game in the men’s basketball of the Baguio – Benguet Educational Athletic League.
Samuel Ian Seña was recommended to be banned from playing in the collegiate league for instigating violence, punching several players including the coaching staff of Baguio College of Technology, a referee and attempting to punch the game commissioner.