MANILA, 18 January — Teenage chess sensation International Master Mark Paragua, 17, obtained his first grandmaster result when he scored 7.5 points out of a possible nine in the recently concluded 1st Festival International De Ajedrez GEMA in Pontevedra, Spain.
Paragua tied for first with top seed Russian GM Oleg Korneev in the 93-player field.
His result of seven wins, one loss and a draw netted him a performance rating of 2623 which was more than enough for the GM norm.
International Chess Federation (FIDE) rules stipulate that a player needs to have a minimum performance rating of 2600 in a tournament with at least five titled players, including at least two GMs, to get a GM result.
Paragua convincingly beat his last three opponents: Portuguese IM Sergio Rocha, Spanish GM Zenon Franco and Ukrainian GM Ruslan Pogorelov. He drew his game with Korneev and his only loss came at the hands of Armenian GM Karen Movsziszian in the sixth round.
Horse racing posts record sales
Local horse racing marked another banner year in 2001 despite the hard times with total sales at the Sta. Ana Park and San Lazaro Hippodrome reaching a record 5.9 billion pesos.
Philippine Racing Club, Inc., operator of the Sta. Ana Park, registered total sales of 3,080,532.828 pesos while Manila Jockey Club, Inc., which manages the San Lazaro Hippodrome, registered sales of 2,839,038.723 pesos from its operation last year.
Last years sales increased by 29.03 percent (1.33 billion pesos) compared to sales in 2000.
"We are delighted the local horse racing industry continued its phenomenal growth in 2001. We remain confident that we could sustain such a strong performance this year given the collective support of the various sectors of the industry," said Andrew Sanchez, who took over as Philracom chief late last year.
The dramatic improvement in industry sales can be attributed in large part to the increase in the number of racing days from 210 in 2000 to 254 last year.
President will decide SEAG host
Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, the prime mover in Bacolod-Iloilos bid to host the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, said it is President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who will make the decision which city or province will host the biennial event and not the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).
The former sports commissioner, who is also the chair of the House Committee on Youth and Sports, likewise asked the POC to stop promoting Manila as SEA Games host because it is unfair to other bidders.
"With all due respect, let us give the President the free hand to choose the host city or province," Puentevella said. "After all, it is she who has the right to give go-signal to any construction or renovation that is going to take place." He was reacting to the statement given by POC president Celso Dayrit, who declared that there is a POC guideline making Manila the center of activities for the Games which the city hosted in 1981 and 1991.
Penalosa to train under Roach
World Boxing Council (WBC) International super flyweight champion Gerry Penalosa is set to leave for Los Angeles in March to train under American Freddie Roach.
Roach trained Manny Pacquiao when he capture the IBF super bantamweight title via a spectacular sixth round knockout over titlist Lelohonolo Ledwaba of South Africa last June 24 in Las Vegas.
Lawyer Rudy Salud, Penalosas manager, said he expects his ward to successfully defend his title against Philippine champion Joel Avila in a fight tentatively set later next month or early in March. After that, Penalosa will train under Roach in Los Angeles.
Roach is scheduled to visit Manila after WBC super bantamweight champion Willie Jorrin defends his title against Osamu Sato of Japan, the reigning Orient Pacific Boxing Federation champion, on Jan. 29 in Tokyo.
Lim shocks Lao for title
Second-seeded Arithmetico Lim of Chiang Kai Shek scored a 6-1, 6-3 upset win over top-seeded Mauric Lao of Aklan to bag the boys 14-under title in the 13th Andrada Cup Age Group Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
It was Lims fourth consecutive 14-under crown after winning the Manzano Cup, Philta/Head Championships and the Milo Junior Tennis Cup last December.
Top favorite Joseph Arcilla, second pick Irwin de Guzman of La Salle-Greenhills and fifth seed Gerard Michael Ngo of Lourdes School pulled off hard-earned wins to rule their respective divisions.
Joseph, younger brother of RP David Cupper Johnny, claimed the boys 18-under trophy after pounding out a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-3 victory over second pick Christian Cuarto of Narciso School Angeles.
Asian windsurfing tour in Boracay
Hong Kong-based Proteus Sports, organizer of the Adecco-Asian Windsurfing Tour (AWT) has confirmed Boracay Island as the venue for the 4th leg of the regions most dynamic sporting event. The AWT is a series of windsurfing events held throughout Asia that include the countries of Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Saipan.
Scheduled on Jan. 21 to 26 2002 and dubbed as the Boracay International
Funboard Cup, the event expects over 60 representatives from as many as eight different countries to compete in the six-day event which is the Philippines longest-running annual international sporting event now on its 14th year.
Proteus Sports will bring its own British television crew to film a 30-minute special devoted to the Philippine leg that is broadcast to over 150 million households worldwide through ESPN Sports, Star Sports, and BBC World.
Marave bags third RP Karting title
Pepon Marave of the Demvels Racing Team ruled the Formula A title and secured his third national karting title at the close of the 2001 Shell Super Kart Series at the Carmona Circuit Philippines in Carmona, Cavite, recently.
"No one ever gets tired of losing," said Marave shortly after the victory. He first won the Karter of the Year plum in 1994 and followed it up the following year by clinching both the National and the Super Kart Series titles.
Marave is taking a leave of absence from karting this year to concentrate on his Formula 3 campaign under the Shell Racing Team. The 2002 Asian Formula 3 series will consist of seven legs, including those in China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines.
Kidapawan to host national chess tilt
The National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) announced that the 2002 National Inter-Cities and Municipal Chess Team championship will be held in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato on April 1 to 6.
North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Pinol approved his provinces hosting of the week-long tournament organized by the NCFP.
At stake in this tournament is a total cash pot of 526,000 pesos with the champion team getting the lions share of 200,000 pesos. The runner-up, third and fourth-placers will win 100,000, 75,000 pesos and 50,000 pesos, respectively. The top three finishers will also win trophies and medals.
The fifth placer up to the 10th place finishers will likewise win cash prizes, while individual board top notchers will also be awarded cash prizes and medals.
No remedy yet for wrestling row
The Philippine Olympic Committees attempt to solve the Philippine Weightlifting Association leadership problem via an election hit a snag with a stalemate between the two claimants following a meeting brokered by the Olympic bodys representatives.
Rivals Rodones Sicat and Jaime Sebastian, who agreed before the POC general assembly to undergo an election on Feb. 2 to settle their dispute, failed to agree on the ground rules for the poll when they met last week.
The meeting was called by Gen. Lucas Managuelod of Muay Thai and Lito Mondragon of body-building, the men assigned by the POC to tackle the PWA mess. Sicat, who is banking on a POC resolution declaring a status quo in the PWA to further his cause, insisted that the election be held at the PWA sub-office in Cebu City using the old charter applied when he was elected to the post two years ago.
Tanpinco rules juniors tourney
Choo Tze Huang of Singapore shot a final round 81, the Philippines JR Tanpinco closed with an 84 and Ji Sun Jang of South Korea carded a 74 yesterday to capture the major titles in the fifth Philippine International Junior Golf Championship.
Choo had earlier played the par 72, 6,774-yard (from the blue tees) Wack Wack Golf and Country Club East course with an 80, 82 and 77 for 320 to emerge overall champion among those who are 17 years and below.
"Tze Huang could have easily run away with the Class B crown but in the tournament, a player could not win two prizes," said Boy Cantada, president of the organizing Philippine Junior Golf Federation.
Tanpinco played his worst round after shooting a 75, 77 and 73 earlier but it was more than enough to capture the overall title among those who are 18-21 years old with 309.
Carrion allays workers fears
Commissioner Cynthia Carrion yesterday allayed fears of the agencies contractual workers who might be affected by the PSC move returning employees to their "mother units."
"This does not mean they will be automatically laid off," said Carrion, "although I guess some of them might have to go because of the organizational changes we are making."
Carrion added among those who could be affected by the new policy that took effect last Jan. 3 "are employees who came along with previous administrations, like those who worked for former chairmen or commissioners. I think they should have been co-terminus with the people who hired them."
She said those who might be laid off would be placed in a "labor pool" where their services could be tapped once vacancies.
