MANILA, 14 March 2003 — Joseph Victorino and Ana Patricia Santos reigned supreme in the P200,000 Philta Open at the Olivarez Sports Center in Parañaque.
The 19-year-old Victorino rode on the crest of a dominating 6-0, 6-0 semifinal win over No. 3 Johnny Arcilla with a methodical 6-1, 6-1 win over second pick Adelo Abadia to crown himself men’s champion.
Santos defeated fellow Federation Cupper and second-ranked Alyssa Labay Labay of La Carlota, 6-2, 6-4, to claim the women’s trophy. It was Victorino’s his fifth crown since last year and second win in a row over Abadia, whom he beat in a grueling five-set finals showdown in the PCA Open last year.
For Santos, who is a member of the RP team set to participate in the Fed Cup’s Group II event scheduled from April 21-27 in Tokyo, Japan, it was her second title since returning to active tennis from a brief two-year hiatus. He pocketed 35,000 pesos for his victory. Arcilla and Michael Mora III defeated the veteran pair of Jun Jun Toledo and Biong Sison, 6-3, 7-6(2) to capture the men’s doubles crown.
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Philippines, China to Boost Wushu
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Eric Buhain and visiting Minister Li Jizhian of the State Sports General Administration of China have agreed to work together for the inclusion of wushu as a sport in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“The PSC is 110 percent supportive of this move as we believe that the inclusion of wushu to the Beijing Games will provide us another avenue and boost our bid to earn for the country the elusive Olympic gold,” said Buhain who met Minister Li last week.
The Chinese sports official, likewise, was very supportive of the partnership being forged by chairman Buhain and has invited the PSC chief to Beijing for final talks and possible signing of a memorandum of agreement this April. Buhain also discussed bilateral agreement with the Chinese official on sports where China is a world power.
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Arroyo, Atienza Back Pacquiao Fight
World super bantamweight champion Manny Pacquiao’s non-title fight against Kazakhstan’s Serikzhen Yeshnaganbetov, threatened by cancellation for lack of funds, will push through as scheduled on March 15 at the Rizal Park following a last-minute boost from First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and Manila Mayor Lito Atienza. Arroyo and Atienza joined hands to raise the money to pay the fighters after organizers were nearly forced to cancel the fight which already had been postponed one week. Pacquiao is expected to get 2.5 million pesos in the non-title fight. No figure was divulged on how much his Kazakh rival will get. Arroyo and Atienza announced their joint support during an appearance at the PSA Forum where they were supposed to be joined by the IBF world champion.
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Horse Racing Nets 6.8b Pesos Sales in 2002
The horse racing industry earned a phenomenal 6.79 billion pesos gross last year, according to Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) chairman Jaime Dilag.
The figure surpassed last year’s total of 878 million pesos said Dilag who hopes the amount will further increase this season with the staging of more exciting races and the coming transfer of the Manila Jockey Club’s operations from Manila to Carmona, Cavite next month. “The 6.79 billion pesos industry sales in 2002 marked an impressive growth of 14.84 percent compared to 2001,” said Dilag. Dilag cited the increase in the number of patrons, expansion of the club’s off-track betting (OTB) network, balanced race cards, improved quality of racing competitions, effective regulation of races by the stewards, scheduling of promotional stakes races and the active involvement of the various racing sectors in the overall promotion of the industry as among the reasons for the boom in the country’s horseracing sector.
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Wind Blown Dominates Lean Field
Wind Blown scored an expected romp in the Senate President’s Cup, dominating a lean field and literally running away with the top 600,000 pesos purse in a fitting victory that highlighted the final day of racing at San Lazaro.
The long layoff, the heavy handicap weight, the punishing 2,000-meter distance and the pressure put up by Catwalk Pia in the early going proved no burden for the massive charger who simply galloped home to victory unopposed.
Wind Blown turned in a 2:09 clocking with fraction times of 25-25-26’-25-27’.
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St. Francis, San Beda Rule Students Cagefest
Irvin Sotto put the finishing touches on Ranidel de Ocampo and Nazir Kiram’s handiwork as Saint Francis of Assisi nipped University of the East, 99-97 to rule the 57th National Students Basketball Championships at the Albay Astrodome in Legaspi City.
The 6-foot-7 Sotto banked back-to-back triples in overtime as the Doves stunned the Warriors, who led most of the time, and stretched their supremacy in the inter-collegiate to four years.
Before Sotto, it was the 6-5 Kiram who shone with his own version of back-to-back triples that finally pushed St. Francis ahead at 89-86 after trailing by as many as 10 points. UE’s Paul Artadi countered with a triple to force extension, although he blew a chance for an outright win when he let go a half-court shot with still two seconds to go.
Without the 45-point explosion of the 6-6 De Ocampo, however, the heroics of Sotto and Kiram would not have been possible.
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IOC Representative Urges PSC, POC to Settle Row
International Olympic Committee (IOC) representative Frank Elizalde has called for “goodwill and good faith” from the partnership of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
Elizalde said the recent spat between the two sports bodies is “not helping the country’s campaign” in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games in December, and was spurred by mere miscommunication.
