MANILA, 10 January 2003 — The protagonists in the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) presidential derby have agreed to work together “for the betterment of Philippine tennis.”
Long-serving Philta chief Col. Salvador “Buddy” Andrada and Children’s Tennis Workshop (CTW) head Giovanni “Jovy” Mamawal, his chief critic, ended a year of hurling criticisms and accusations at each other during the Philta election where Andrada was unanimously reelected president of the association.
Mamawal was nominated by Region I Regional Vice President Ferdie Medina and Region VIA RVP Vice Mayor Rex Jalandoon for the presidency but withdrew his candidacy “for the sake of unity.”
“For the last one year, CTW has embarked on a mission to reform Philippine tennis. But after consulting with my father, former RVP for Central Luzon Fraz Mamawal, I decided to withdraw my candidacy for the Philta presidency for the sake of unity,” Mamawal explained. “Hopefully, this noble act from our group will lead to a better Philippine tennis.”
Andrada then named Mamawal national coach for Philta’s nationwide grassroots development program.
“I accepted Col. Andrada’s offer to serve as national coach for grassroots development, the job being actually the same as what CTW has been doing for so long with support from Milo and Adidas,” he said.
With Mamawal out of the picture, Andrada got 16 votes, four from the national executive council (NEC) and 12 from the RVPs, to handily win the presidency over former Project: Gintong Alay executive director Arturo “Bong” Ilagan Jr., who was a no-show.
It was the fifth consecutive four-year mandate for the 66-year-old Andrada, a fresh tenure that observers noted could be preparatory for a presidential bid at the Asian Tennis Federation this year or at the Philippine Olympic Committee in 2004.
“Inspite of all the critics, we will continue to do what is good for tennis,” said Andrada, who has held on to the top post since 1986. “We welcome the support of people who wish to help the sport. We are willing to work hand in hand for the betterment of tennis in the Philippines.”
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Mamiit offered $5,000 to
join Davis Cup team
The Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) has offered Fil-American Cecil Mamiit $5,000 to play for the Philippine team in the next Davis Cup competitions.
National coach Johnny Jose confirmed the offer, which he sent by e-mail to Mamiit last year.
But Mamiit, who expressed interest to play for RP team, has not replied yet. The Fil-Am is No. 10 in the United States and among the top 100 in the world.
Jose said he has informed Philta president Salvador Andrada about Mamiit’s intention. After meeting with Philta officials, the association offered $5,000.
“I already informed Mamiit about the money he will get for playing for the RP Davis Cup but I haven’t heard from him,’’ said Jose, the Davis Cup team captain.
Jose said that there is also a plan to get the services of Mamiit’s doubles partner Eric Taino, who is also a Fil-Am, for the same amount.
Randy Villanueva, a former junior standout, was able to talk to Mamiit during the Salem Open in Hong Kong last November.
“He told me that he is interested to play for the Philippines but for the right price,’’ said Villanueva.
Villanueva said that Mimiit is getting around $50,000 a year as a member of the United States Tennis Association (USTA).
“With the money he is getting from the USTA and the other privileges, we have to offer something that will convince Mamiit to play for us,’’ said Villanueva.
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Lopez confident boxers will deliver anew
Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Manny Lopez is brimming with confidence the country’s boxers will do better this year in international tournaments, especially in the Southeast Asian Games to be held in Vietnam. Lopez said despite Caltex’s decision to terminate its sponsorship program, the association will not stop in its quest for an Olympic gold medal.
He said they are on the lookout for another firm to pick up where Caltex left off and are confident they can find a willing partner soon.
“The year that has just ended has been good to our boxers, coaches and association officials. The ABAP reached new heights this year and despite some failures, we were able to rebound and proceed with our program,” said Lopez, who was elected secretary general of the powerful Federation of Asian Amateur Boxing last year.
Aside from the silver medal of Harry Tanamor in the Busan Asian Games, Lopez said the boxers also garnered six gold, eight silver and six bronze in seven international tournaments last year.
“We are looking forward to attaining more this year,” he said, adding diplomatic relations and goodwill with other countries was also enhanced by the boxers’ participation in various tournaments and his entry to the FAAB.
Aside from Tanamor’s silver medal win in Busan, a Philippine delegation made history last year by becoming the first Filipino team to participate in a North Korean tournament and winning a gold, a silver and five bronze medals.
Middleweight Maraon Goles won the gold in the North Korean event, with Tanamor winning the light flyweight silver and flyweight Violito Payla, bantamweight Ferdie Gamo, featherweight Roel Laguna, lightweight Anthony Igusquiza and light middleweight Christopher Camat bringing home bronze medals.
Tanamor and Payla also won gold medals in the Acropolis Cup in Greece and Dr. A. Chowdry Cup in Azerbaijan and silver medals in Lithuania while Payla was the lone gold medalist in the Gee Bee tournament in Finland where Tanamor settled for the silver.
The Lithuania tournament also saw light welterweight Romeo Brin and Igusquiza winning silver medals. Other medal winners were Lhyven Salazar (Asian Boxing Championships silver in Malaysia), Gamo (ABC bronze) and Arlan Lerio (Acropolis Cup silver).
In the local scene, Lopez said the boxers and coaches were able to impart their knowledge to the countryside and barangays with their sorties in different provinces and continuous participation in national meets.
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Triathlon body gears up for trials
As part of the Triathlon Association of the Philippines’ program to develop and prepare young triathletes for the 2006 Qatar Asian Games, the male and female junior sprint champions of the 2003 National Triathlon Trials will be sent to represent the country in the Solidarity Camp for Junior Triathletes this year.
Set to be held at the Tambuli Beach Club in Mactan, Cebu, on Jan. 18, the national triathlon event, organized by the Cebu City Sports Commission and sanctioned by TRAP, will feature the junior sprint side event (750-m swim, 20K bike, 5K run) aside from the elite male, female, club competition and the age-grouper races.
The event offers cash prizes to the top three winners of the elite, under-23 and club competition. The champion club will represent the country in the Macau International Triathlon in August.
Among the early registrants are Alvin Abarquez, California-based Joseph Tuazon, Earl Anton Rustia, Emmy Lyn Cuizon, Astrud Valdez, Ian Gerard Rusiana, Scotch Pitogo, Chris Aldeguer, John Mark Yamoyam, Francis Mercado;
Pearl Mijares, Jey Pe Campania, Andrew Alon-Alon, Nonoy Jopson, Noel Salvador, Abet Biagan, Amale Mendezona-Jopson, Mimi Lucas, Louie Villacin, Ironman champion Alvin Alindogan, Ana Carla Pangilinan and Michael Mariano.
Triathlon will mark its Asian Games debut in the 2006 games to be hosted by Doha, Qatar.
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RP rowers capture 4 golds in Vietnam
Filipino rowers ended the year on an explosive note by capturing four gold medals in the recent Southeast Asian Rowing Federation championships in West Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Busan Asian Games bronze medalists Alvin Amposta and Nestor Cordova led the Filipinos’ sweep of all four events they joined in the three-day competition which also lured rowers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and host Vietnam.
Amposta and Cordova clocked 6 minutes 57.89 seconds to beat Vietnam’s Do Manh Tung and Nguyen Tuan Anh (7:02.44) and Thailand’s Anupong Thainjam and Ruthanapol Teppibal (7:05.66) in the men’s lightweight double sculls event.
The other RP gold medalists were Jose Rodriguez in men’s lightweight single scull, Rodriguez and Olympian Benjamin Tolentino in the men’s double sculls and Jairus Miron, Mark Anthony Galvez, Nilo Cordova and Rowell Tolentino in the men’s lightweight coxless fours.
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Filipinos bag HK baseball title
The Philippines played true to form as it blanked the Chinese Youth team from Tianjin 8-0 and clinched the Zhu Jiang Cup Invitational International baseball tournament at the Yuen Long Baseball Stadium in Hong Kong. Ernesto Binarao allowed just three hits, had five strike outs and no base-on-balls in seven superb innings while his teammates peppered Chinese pitcher Gao Bo Xuan with 13 hits en route to eight runs.
The Philippines formalized its entry into the final with a 15-0 demolition of the Shen Zhen University in the morning. The Chinese Youth team, on the other hand, ripped Chinese Taipei at the close of the elimination round. Angeles was named tournament MVP while Binarao was named best pitcher.
