December 16 - 31 , 2017 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY 29
The Philippines played host to the three-nation Far Eastern Games for the third time in 1925 when Filipino athletes reclaimed the general championship they lost to Japan in1923 in AThe port city of Osaka .
That actually , was the Filipinos ’ fifth and last overall victory in the biennial conclave that started , also in Manila but
Japan ended the Philippines ’ four-year reign as overall champion but the biggest story in the VI Far Eastern Games in Osaka in 1923 was Filipino cager Luis “ Lou ” Salvador who set an alltime record 116 points in a single game .
Salvador ’ s 116-point production , most of them coming from mid-court , has remained in the record books up to this present day , 94 years after , gifted the Philippines back the basketball gonfalon the Filipinos lost to China two years prior
That was the first and only time the Philippine yielded the basketball crown in the 10 editions of the biennial Games among the top athlete from Japan , China and the Philippines until 1934 when it was dissolved due to World War II .
Inspired by Japanese emperor Yoshihito , who declared the hostilities open at the Osaka Municipal Field in the city hosting he triangular conclave for the first time , Japan ’ s runner , throwers and jumpers dethroned the Filipinos as track and field titlists besides winning , too , in tennis and swimming .
The Filipinos , who emerged the general champions in 1913 and 1919 in Manila and 1921 in Shanghai , reigned supreme anew
Sports ’ Feature-
Seventh Far Eastern
had to be dismantled after its 10th edition in 1934 due to the breakout of World War II .
Like in their previous general championship triumphs , the Filipinos dominated track and field with dasher Fortunato Catalon ending his 10-year stint in the national team by remaining Asia ’ s ‘ Sprint King ’ for the fifth straight time dating back to 1917 , the year he started beating all-comers for the distinct honor .
The then 28-yearold native of Tolosa Town in Leyte only managed to repeat in the 100-meter run but that proved enough to raise his gold medal winning to 12 overall , nine of them in individual events , becoming the most be-medalled Filipino campaigner in the meet among the strongest
in basketball , baseball and volleyball in finishing second overall . That was their third straight crown in baseball , while recovering the volleyball plum they also lost to the Chinese in 1921 .
China again ended up third overall with a lone title triumph in football , its fourth consecutive after wresting the diadem from the Filipino booters in 1917 . The Filipinos were the football kingpins in the Games inaugural presentation in 1913 .
T wasn ’ t at all that bad a showing of the Filipinos on the track and in the field .
Sprinter Fortunato Catalon , unfazed by inroduction of the metric system in measuring the distance from yards , retained his calling as Asia ’ s fastest man since 1917 , beating all comers anew in the 100-meter dash .
Future Olympian David Nepomuceno , who would have to represent the country for the first time in the Paris Olympic Games the following year , took top honors in the 200 meters , in the process towing a tiring Catalon himself and Cirilo Perez an all-Filipino 1-2-3 finishes .
Four other Filipinos emerged with a gold medal haul each – Paulino Fernandez and Emilio Bucoy , who swept the 120-yard and 220-yard hurdles , respectively , Regino
Games 1925
20 Seventh Far Eastern Games 1925
athletes from Japan , China and the Philippines .
Catalon , who once ran he century dash in a fast 09.8 seconds clocking in March 1923 that ranked him sixth in the world that year , also brought silver medal each in the 4 x 200-m relay and the 4 x 400-m relay .
The Philippines , again , swept the dashes when 1924 Paris Olympian David Nepomuceno , topped the 200 meters and along with nine more victories courtesy of hurdletand shot putter Generoso Rabaya , middle distance ace Francisco Danao , Pedro Abiera , Eliseo Razo , Antonio Alo Genaro Rivera , Regino Birtulfo , Rufino Ico , and Juan Taduran regained the overall title in athletics .
With Mariano Filomeno , Lou Salvador , Vicente
Far Eastern Games 1923
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Avena and Augusto Bautista regaining their superiority over their Chinese counterparts , the Philippines , won back the basketball crown taken from them in 1923 .
Baseball and volleyball , likewise , continued to be the domain of the host country . Lefty Vicente Jaropillo remained the master on the mound as the Filipino sluggers reaffirmed their over the Japanese and Chinese batters .
So were the spikers , who worked behind the power-smashing future Caloocan Mayor Macario Asistio , Ricaredo dela Rosa and Tomas d e Castro in cruising to their back-toback title win at the expense of the Chinese .
Filipino footballers , however , continued to be the
Bertulfo in discus throw and Juan Taduran in decathlon . Later in the day , Bertulfo still had to go to the indoor stadium to help the Philippine team keep the baseball title .
Rounding out the Filipino medal winners in athletics were Francisco Danao , Juan Escamos , Rufino Nollido , Anonio Alo , Simon Santos , Aguedo Torres , Arturo Roa , and PH 4x220 and 4x440 relay teams , all silver medalists ; and broze medalists Valentin Malinao , Pedro Abiera , Mala , Sebastian Bontoc , and Emilio Silverio .
Cager Jovito Gonzales bade his long 12-yeear stint in the national basketball team goodbye by bringing home his fifth gold medal , while welcoming NCAA standouts Mariano Filomeno , who later was to become the best forward the Game had produced , Mariano Sangle , Emiterio Montelibano and Albeert Morrow .
Another Oympian-tobe shone in the pool in the person of Teofilo Yldefonso , who topped the 200-meter , the same event he would be handing the country back-toback back bronze medals in th 1928 and 1932 Olympic Games in Hilsinki ands Los Angeles respectively .
Gregorio Osias , Knga , and Assad Usman joined Yldefonso with a silver medal each kin swimming
Like in b a s k e t b a l l , the volleyball squad paraded several talented players in the mold of Caloocan Mayor-to -be Macario Asistio , Enrique Alcantara , Andres Carreon , Ricaredo dela Rosa and Ramon Nolasco ,
By : Julian Ray Fortaleza
Answers from last week ’ s issue
1 . UFC 219 will feature Khabib Nurmagomedov and Edson Barboza 2 . Don King has promoted at least 25 World Champions 3 . Ali was the 3 time heavyweight World champ
New Questions favorite whipping boys of the Chinese , who captured the event for the fifth straight time despite the presence of soon-to-be senator Lorenzo Tanada , Virgilio Lobregat and Sebastian Ugarte ki he PH XI .
Rabaya came up with a double whammy , winning 110 hurdles and shot put , while Danao , topped the 400- meter run . Abiera , likewise , completed a sweep of the hurdles events ruling the 200 hurdles , with Razo proved unbeatable in high jump .
Also ruling their respecive events were Alo in pole vault , Rivera in long jump , Birtulfo in discuss throw , Ico in javelin and Taduran in the 10- event decathlon , a discipline he also ruled in 1923 .
Lou Salvador shot a record 116 points as PH recaptured cage crown in VI FEG
among others , that helpd in the Philippines ’ title-recovdring bid .
1 . UFC 219 ’ s main event will be between which UFC fighters ? 2 . Muhammad Ali was promoted by who ? 3 . How old was Manny Pacquiao at the time of his first world title