MANILA, 19 April — Airfreight 2100-FedEx Philippines Chairman Bert Lina has said the company will push through with FedEx Express Tour in April next year.
The announcement finally put to rest all speculations the tour, which was last staged in 1998, would again be scrapped.
“The tour will definitely be back on the road next year, in April to be precised,” said Lina. “Reviving it is just one of our goals. We foresee the tour as a major unifying factor for Philippine cycling.”
The positive response from leaders of the Professional Cycling Association of the Philippines (PCAP), the Philippine Amateur Cycling Association (PACA) as well as major regional federations and associations, including a big group led by former champion Jesus Garcia Jr. of Pangasinan, has prompted FedEx officials to give the support needed to revive the tour.
“Now that we have the guarantee of our cycling leaders to give their support to the tour, we can finally say we are one hundred and one percent behind this major event in cycling. It’s a healthful sign that everybody is cooperating,” said Lina.
Cyclists will have another venue to show their wares in the FedEx Tour which will have a test run on May 16-19 around the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon). The four-day event will be participated in by at least 10 provincial teams with the cyclists to be dispersed in the different teams as reinforcements.
****
Top gymnast quits national team
Southeast Asian Games triple gold medalist gymnast Pia Adelle Reyes has quit the national team while four wrestlers have joined the Asian Games contingent.
Asian Games chief of mission Tom Carrasco said that so far there are 139 athletes who have qualified for the Pusan Games in September.
“At the rate things are going, we would probably be sending very few athletes, from 150 to 160,” said Carrasco. “The criteria are strict but we have to implement it.”
Carrasco said Reyes, who is turning 18 this year, decided to quit to pursue an academic scholarship grant in the United States.
Carrasco named the wrestlers as Francis Villanueva, Marciano Basas, John Esteban and Jimmy Angan. Villanueva won a gold medal each in the Greco-Roman and freestyle and Basas a silver in Greco-Roman and a gold in freestyle in a recent Thai qualifier. Esteban and Angan each snared two silver medals in two categories.
****
Pacquiao to defend title against US rival
Manny Pacquiao is set to make a second defense of his International Boxing Federation (IBF) super bantamweight title on June 1 at the Makati Coliseum.
The 22-year-old Pacquiao is likely to meet Marcos Licona of the US in a scheduled 12-rounder that is expected to draw a capacity crowd at the 5,000-seat venue. He is expected to spend at least a month under Los Angeles trainer Freddie Roach in preparation for his bout against Licona. Pacquiao will be back in Manila at least 10 days before the fight.
This marks the General Santos City fighter’s first ring appearance since facing rowdy New York-based Dominican Republic native Agapito “El Ciclon” Sanchez in a bloody six-round split draw at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.
Team Pacquiao had originally eyed Frenchman Salim Medjkoune, American Bobby Boy Velardez and Venezuelan Jose Luis Valbuena as challenger, but the New Jersey-based IBF came up with the name of Licona as a choice challenger.
Medjkoune is set to defend this European crown this month, while Velardez is coming off a controversial defense of his United States Boxing Association title.
Valbuena’s last fight came in January when he stopped Colombian Ernesto Grey. But the IBF made it clear that in the event Pacquiao retains the IBF 122-lb title, he will have to face the mandatory challenger. Valbuena is the likely opponent should the Filipino champ emerge victorious on home soil.
Pacquiao’s business manager Rod Nazario was compelled to stage his boxer’s next fight on local shores after Murad Muhammad, who holds the rights to Pacquiao’s fight in the US, failed to secure a fight there.
“I had given Mr. Muhammad all the time in the world, but because of the economic situation nowadays, he couldn’t arrange even for one fight there,” Nazario said. “But after this fight, it is definite that Pacquiao will return to the US.”
****
Neophyte pro boxer falls in coma
A neophyte Filipino boxer who only had six professional fights to his credit is currently confined in the intensive care unit of a Thailand hospital after losing via knockout in Cambodia. The boxer, Sonny Boco, was knocked out by Pan-Asia Boxing Association minimumweight champion Pornsawan Kratingdaen of Thailand in the fifth round in their bout held in the border town of Poipet. He collapsed when he went back to his dressing room moments after the bout.
The 22-year-old Boco, who earned $1,200 for the match, was rushed from the fight venue in the Cambodian border town to a frontier hospital in Thailand. He was then transferred to Phrapokkhao hospital, some 120 kilometers east of Bangkok.
Boco is still being treated in the intensive care unit for severe brain injury. When Boco flew to Cambodia, he also took with him a 5-0-1 win-loss-draw card.
****
Erring coach sacked
The Manila Sports Council (MASCO) fired an erring dance sport coach for allowing ineligible participants to join the first Manila Youth Games at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
MASCO chairman Ali Atienza, son of Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, suspended Ed Daeng, a member of dance sport screening committee, for fielding in participants above the age requirement of 12 years. Protests marred day two of the week-long sportsfest following reports that the winners in the modern standard category are over-aged.
****
Payla bags RP’s lone Helsinki gold
Violito Payla won the country’s lone gold medal at the expense of teammate Harry Tanamor and gave team Caltex Philippines a respectable fourth place finish among 12 countries in the 21st Gee Bee International Amateur Boxing Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Payla scored an easy win over the left-handed Tanamor, who could not land a hard punch with his left fist after a wrist injury in the semifinals a day earlier.
Boxing chief and delegation head Manny Lopez ruled out a default to prevent further injury to his wrist, saying the fight must be staged in deference to the organizer and spectators. Tanamor, who stopped his foes inside the distance in the quarterfinals (RSC-outclassed, 2nd) and semifinals (18-3), fought gamely through four rounds, underscoring his readiness to climb from light flyweight to the next rung.
Payla received the best fight award for his win over Tanamor in the match cheered by a hometown crowd. The win, coming after this gold medal finish in the Chowdry Cup last month, gave Team Caltex Philippines its solitary gold after the loss of featherweight Roel Laguna to Finland’s Jussi Koivula (8-15) and lightweight Romeo Brin to Bulgaria’s Dimitar Stilianov (0-20).
Boxing secretary general Rene Fortaleza, who serves as international referee, had reservations over the scoring but Lopez, who is here to check the progress of his ward’s buildup for the forthcoming Asian Games, declined to file a protest.
The judges’ individual score sheets showed Brin landed an average of four punches per round but these were not counted. Before a punch can be registered in the computer as a point for the boxer, the rule states that “the majority of the five judges must punch the score at the same time within one second.”
****
2 private firms back Filipino athletes
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Eric Buhain has reached an agreement with the private sector that has the welfare of national athletes, coaches as well as the entire sports community on top of its priorities. Both Air Philippines Corporation and Philtranco Service Enterprises, Incorporated agreed to provide national athletes, coaches and PSC employees a 20 percent discount on fare effective April 12 until the end of this year.
“As I said before when I assumed office, I will not hesitate to ask for support from the private sector to uplift the welfare of athletes and coaches as well as employees,” Buhain said. “We are here with the sole purpose of serving Philippine sports and I would like to thank Air Philippines and Philtranco for their support.” Air Philippines and Philtranco have also agreed to extend support to the government sports agency’s grassroots development program such as the Philippine National Youth Games-Batang Pinoy, Palarong Pambansa, and subsequent national sports activities of the PSC. All delegates and officials participating in the 2002 Palarong Pambansa in Naga and other grassroots programs of the PSC this year shall be granted special discounts on fare including insurance and additional baggage allowance.
Air Philippines will also promote the PSC program “Piso Para sa Atleta” by remitting to the government sports agency one peso of every ticket sold starting July 1 until the end of this year. The PSC is also set to forge a similar agreement with Whitehall Pharmaceutical Philippines.
“At this point, the athletes, coaches and the entire local sports community really need all help it could get. We all have to work together for our common goal towards a better Philippine sports,” Buhain said.
