WORLD-CLASS athletes from Davao region emerged in the past 10 years, thus proving that precious talents abound in this part of the country.
The likes of Aiba Women's World Boxing Championships 2019 featherweight gold medalist Nesthy Alcayde Petecio, 2016 Rio Olympics boxer Charly Suarez, reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas, former International Boxing Organization (IBO) World Lightweight Flyweight champion Rey Loreto, bottleneck.net 77th World 14.1 Tournament and 888.com World Cup of Pool champion Lee Vann Corteza, World Para Swimming Series silver medalist Ernie Gawilan, Bruges Masters 2018 chess champion international master (IM) John Marvin Miciano and four-time World Sambo bronze medalist Sydney Sy Tancontian are no pushovers in their respective fields.
Their sterling feats did not only bring honor and glory to the three stars and a sun but also made every Filipino in all corners of the globe proud.
Lucky year
This 2019 is by far the most memorable year for 27-year-old Petecio who ended a string of heartbreaks in her career by nailing the elusive gold medals in the Aiba Women's World Boxing Championships 2019 held in Ulan-Ude, Russia and in the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
"Gi-bless kaayo ko ni God karong tuiga kay first time nako mag world champion og first time maka-gold sa SEA Games (God has indeed blessed me with so much this year, making me world champion and SEA games gold medalist for the first time)," she told Sun.Star Davao after beating 2013 SEA Games finals tormentor Nwe Ni Oo of Myanmar in their women's featherweight (57 kg) championship bout via unanimous decision at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) evening of December 9.
In Russia, Petecio eked out a split decision (3-2) victory over hometown bet Liudmila Vorontsove in their women's 57-kilogram finals.
Her World victory earned her P3 million in cash incentives -- P1 million from President Rodrigo R. Duterte, P1 million from the national government through the Philippine Sports Commission via Republic Act (RA) 10699 also known as the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act and another P1 million from sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan's MVP Sports Foundation.
The Barangay Tuban native of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur and her family resided in Bago Gallera in Davao City, in a house built by their father Teodoro using tarps and woods, from 2002 to 2010. Teodoro and wife Prescilla worked at Iluminada Farms by collecting chicken dung.
Her father taught her the ropes of boxing when she was 11 and joined the national team at 15 following her Abap National Amateur Boxing Open Championships win in Cagayan de Oro City.
With also three SEA Games silvers and one Aiba World Women's Boxing Championships 2015 silver to her name, Petecio has indeed come a long way from scouring the streets for scrap metals to sell and vending yema on consignment with her siblings so they could have allowance in going to school or to money to buy a kilo of rice for the family.
She now shifts her focus to training for 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifying tournaments that will start in February in China.
Olympian boxer
Suarez, 31, of Barangay Sawata in San Isidro, Davao del Norte, became the second boxer from Davao region to be an Olympian.
He competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics in Rio de Janiero in Brazil after scoring a technical knockout (TKO) victory over Chinese Jun Shan in their Aiba Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifying Event lightweight semifinals clash at the Tangshan Sports Centre in Qian' an, Hebei Province in China in March 2016.
His good friend and Barangay Una trammate Mark Anthony Barriga of Panabo City was the lone Filipino boxer in the 2012 London Olympics.
The Incheon Asian Games silver medalist Suarez also annexed four SEA Games golds, the recent of which he won on December 9 at PICC in Pasay City by beating Thailand's Khunatip Pidnuch in their men's lightweight finals (60 kg) finals via unanimous decision.
He turned professional after his 2017 SEA Games bronze finish but was later invited to play for the country anew in this year's edition of the biennial meet.
"Dako akong kalipay kay natagaan ko og higayon makadula usab aning SEA Games (I'm thankful to have been given this opportunity to play again for the country in this SEA Games)," he said.
Undisputed champ
The 27-year-old Ancajas, a Barangay Una Boxing Gym product of Panabo City, defended his belt for the eighth time as he stopped challenger Miguel Gonzalez of Chile in the sixth round at the Auditorio GNP Seguros in Puebla, Mexico on December 8, 2019.
Ancajas, who also trained at Almendras Gym in Davao City during the early stage of his amateur boxing career, has kept his IBF title and has become a world champion for three years now.
He currently holds of 32 wins including 22 knockoutz, two draws and one loss.
He graced this year's Davao Region Athletic Association (Davraa) Meet 2019 opening at the Davao City-University of the Philippines (UP) Sports Complex as keynote speaker.
The 'Hitman'
International Boxing Organization (IBO) World light flyweight champion Rey "The Hitman" Loreto had to give up his belt as there were no challengers from outside the country.
The 29-year-old last successfully defended his world title against Nkosinathi Joyi of South Africa on March 22, 2015 via technical knockout.
Both first collided against each other on February 1, 2014 for the vacant IBO World light flyweight title, which Loreto also ruled via knockout.
After giving up his belt, Loreto fought six times against separate opponents and came out victorious in five outings. His only loss was at the hands of Thammanoon Niyomtrong in their World Boxing Association (WBA) World Minimum Title encounter on July 15, 2017.
The Dabawenyo, who holds a record of 25 wins (17 KOs) and 14 losses (one KO), will next test his mettle on December 31, 2019 against Ginjiro Shigeoka of Japan.
Historic feat
Davao City's very own Lee Vann Corteza, who hails from Mintal, accomplished what no other Asian has achieved by bagging the championship of the bottleneck.net 77th world 14.1 Tournament at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, New York City on October 9, 2017.
The 40-year-old, who won several golds for the country in past editions of the SEA Games, came from behind to upset four-time champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, 300-183, in their titular showdown.
He was then quoted on his Facebook post, saying, "Wow! The first Asian to win since 1912 according to history. Can't contain my happiness in winning this 14.1 title."
It can be recalled that Corteza and partner Bislig, Surigao del Sur's Dennis Orcollo snatched the gold medal and the championship trophy for the Philippines in the 888.com World Cup of Pool (Wcop) at York Hall of Bethnal Green in East London, England in September 2013.
Corteza and Orcollo survived a 10-8 thriller against Holland's Niels Feijen and Nick Van den Berg to claim the US$60,000 purse.
It was the Philippines' third WCoP title after legendary pair of Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante cornered the crowns in 2006 and 2009.
Corteza continues to play professional pool in other parts of the world.
For the books
Ernie Gawilan of Davao, born with no legs and incomplete arm, made another milestone for the country when he first captured a medal, a silver, in the World Para Swimming Series held in Singapore this year.
The 28-year-old timed four minutes and 53.36 seconds in the finals, trailing visually impaired Uchu Tomita in the 400 meter freestyle multi-classification competition.
Abortion pills were the culprit of his deformity. He was barely five months old when his mother died of cholera and barely five years old when he lost his father due to tuberculosis.
His grandfather then adopted him and taught him how to swim in the Island Garden City of Samal when he was 12.
And the rest is history.
His most recent feats was winning three golds and three silvers in the Asian Para Games 2018 para swimming competition at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia. Thus, earning him millions in cash incentives.
Chess master
The 18-year-old Miciano, for his part, clinched a boys-under-20 standard gold medal and individual standard silver in Bruges Masters 2018 in Belgium.
Miciano was a national master (NM) at age 16, a Fide master (FM) and an international master (IM) at 17.
Earning three prestigious chess titles in over one year was indeed no easy feat for the Dabawenyo woodpusher.
He got his IM title after topping the open under-18 champion of the Asian Youth Championship at the Lotus Pang Suan Kaew Hotel in Chang Mai, Thailand last April 2018. But the title was conferred to him only after several months by Fide, the world governing body of chess.
He aims to become a grand master when he turns 20.
Sambo veteran
At 19, Sydney Sy Tancontian of Davao City could already be described as a veteran in the sport of sambo.
She recently copped a bronze in the World Youth and Juniors Sambo Championships 2019 at the Sports Complex Uzbekistan.
She also got bronzes in 2019 Chungju World Martial Arts Masterships in Chungju, South Korea in September, World Sambo Championships 2018 held in Bucharest, Romania and in 2019 Sambo World Cup Kharlapiev Memorial Competition in Moscow, Russia in March 2019.
She, however, failed to compete in the sambo event of the just-concluded SEA Games due to miscommunication of weight classes entered. Thus, she played in kurash instead, salvaging a bronze in the process.