30 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY August 16 - 31 , 2017
Kuala Lumpur – Pool legend Efren “ Bata ” Reyes said Chezka Centeno and Rubilen Amit are heads and shoulders above their rivals in the 29th Southeast Asian Games , it may take a generation before the other players can catch up .
“ Malayong malayo ang mga kalaban ,” said Reyes as the team prepared to leave the Malaysian capital Monday .
“ Makikita mo naman sa galaw . Wala , eh . Wala akong nakikitang bagong player na puwedeng lumaban kina Chezka at Rubilen ,” said Reyes who took part in English Billiards , an event rarely played back home .
“ Ako , nagsimula eight years old , 12 nakikipaglaban na ako ,” he added .
Centeno , 18 , edged Amit , 7-6 , Sunday after the 36-yearold , six-time Games champion
Michael Martinez gambled with a new routine and paid dearly for it last Sunday when he failed in his bid for the gold medal in the men ’ s individual figure skating event of the 29th Southeast Asian Games at the Empire City Arena in Damansara Perdana .
Billed as the top favorite in the event making its SEA Games debut , Martinez settled for the silver with 171.63 points – his lowest tally in international competition – behind hometown bet Julian Yee , who secured the gold medal with 205.43 points .
“ Basically this was the first time I was trying out my
Pinoys still masters of SEAG pool – Bata
scratched on the 13th rack after dropping the seven ball .
“ Napasigaw nga ako dahil wala talaga scratch yung tira . Disgrasya talaga ,” said Amit who has now lost to Centeno for the second straight Games in the final .
So dominating were Centeno and Amit , they gave up a combined 10 racks against two opponents .
Against Angelina Ticoalu of Indonesia , Centeno won , 7- 4 .
Ticoalu is best remembered for upsetting Amit in the 2013 final in Naypyidaw , Myanmar – the only time the Philippines lost the gold medal since 2005 .
Centeno then smothered Klaudia Djalie of Malaysia , 7-2 , in the semifinals .
Amit , who won the first three staging of the event , clobbered Silviana Lu of Singapore , 7-3 , and overwhelmed Suhana Dewi Sabtu , 7-1 , in the semifinals .
Until the scratch against Centeno , Amit was doing well .
Amit has now lost the last four finals in the Games .
World Games champion Carlo Biado had an easy final against Durong Quoc Hoang of Vietnam , surging to a 4-0 lead on his way to a 7-5 win .
Hoang eliminated Johann Chua in the semifinals .
Biado , ranked ninth in the world , defended the title won by Dennis Orcollo two years ago in Singapore .
The 9-ball pool doubles slipped from the country ’ s grasp when Orcollo and Warren Kiamco were beaten in the semifinals by eventual winners Toh Lian Han and Aloysius
Carlo Biado ( Ali Vicoy | Manila Bulletin )
Yapp in the quarterfinals .
All the five medals won by the Filipinos – two golds , one silver and two bronzes
Martinez tries new routine , pays dearly
new program in a competition . This is so far the hardest among all the programs I have ever done ,” explained the 2014 Sochi Winter Games veteran . “ It usually takes three to four months to master the routine .
“ This was the first time I included quads ( jumps ) in my program so there were still some refinements to do in my transition .”
In contrast , he said “ Yee played it safe and did nothing new . That has been his program for one-and-a-half year . Basically what he did was skate , tumalon , skate , tumalon while I introduced a lot of new things in my routine .”
Martinez said the lessons learned here would serve him well when he tweaks his routine in preparation for the Nebelhorn Trophy , an Olympic qualifying tournament , in Germany .
“ This tournament will be the first Olympic qualifier to next year ’ s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics ,” said Martinez , who placed seventh in the same competition in 2013 that earned him a spot for the Sochi Olympiad . “ I would really like to medal this time should I qualify .”
Performing in his first SEA Games , he added , “ was a memorable experience which I hope I can repeat two years from now in Manila where I
– came from the pool events . ( Rey Bancod , mb . com )
definitely will go out to win the gold .”
Philippines hosting 2019 SEAG in Clark , Zambales , Bulacan
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The Philippines intends to hold the 30th SEA Games in Clark , Pampanga and the neighboring provinces of Bulacan and Zambales while showcasing to our Southeast Asian neighbors “ the new Philippines .”
Foreign Affairs Sec . Alan Peter Cayetano , designated as the 2019 SEA Games Organizing Committee chairman , bared this in an interview with the Filipino sportswriters in the sidelines of the semifinals matches of SEAG volleyball competition at the Malaysian International Trade and Exhibition Center here yesterday .
Cayetano is here to cheer the Filipino athletes and have an initial talk with Philippine Olympic Committee president
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Jose “ Peping ” Cojuangco Jr . with regards the country ’ s hosting of the next SEA Games .
The first order is to set up the structure of the organizing group for the country ’ s fourth hosting of the biennial meet since 1981 . Cayetano is excited . “ It ’ s a great , great opportunity to do three things . Number one is to feature the new Philippines . Number two , to show Philippine hospitality . And number three , to focus on training and grassroots sports program in the Philippines ,” said Cayetano .
“ Of course , we want our athletes to win . That ’ s always the aspirational goal . But since we also represent our country ,
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to see the hospitality , to see the brotherhood , basically what sports stands for , what the Olympics was put together for . To see the beauty of the Filipino , the beauty of the Philippines .”
It looks a consensus has been reached to put up a new sports center in the sprawling Clark area in Angeles , Pampanga to make it the main hub of the 2019 Games and training facilities of the Filipino athletes for the other future international events .
“ With or without the 2019 hosting , may ( there ’ s ) 50 to 100 hectares in New Clark City that was really reserved for sports ,” he said . “( It can be a ) training center . We always wanted a training center whether or not we are hosting . But we ’ re listing
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down what ’ s feasible within a two-year period because we ’ re not sure if we can finish it in a year and a half . But most probably we will have the games in November , so we have more than two years .
“ I ’ m looking at both actually , 2019 ( SEA Games ) and 2020 ( Olympics ),” he said . “ So the next two years , if we can build the facilities needed , but more than that , build our teams , support our teams , support the groups who are supporting grassroots sports programs , then it will be a good launching the next two years . Then sana tuloy-tuloy na ( Hopefully , the program continues ).”
They ’ re also looking at Zambales and Bulacan because
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of its proximity to Clark .
“ It ’ s also the request of the participants . They don ’ t want to take an airplane ride ,” Cayetano said .
“ It can possibly be extended to some others , but we ’ re still talking about it . We won ’ t be a good host if we don ’ t consult the other countries about the venues ,” he added .
In 2005 , the Philippines held the games across the country with heavy hostilities in Manila , Cebu and Bacolod .( N . Beltran , PS )
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