PH Memory Team 2nd overall in world meet

GUANGZHOU, CHINA—THE Philippine Memory Team scored a successful campaign in the 20th World Memory Championship (WMC) by finishing second overall in the team event at the Mount River Resort Hotel here on Friday.

The Philippine Memory Team is composed of Johann Randall Abrina, Roberto Racasa, Christopher Carandang, Mark Anthony Castaneda, Axelyancy Cowan Tabernilla, Erwin Balines, Mark Anthony Adarlo, team manager and delegation head Aurelio de Leon and head coach Almario Marlon Bernardino Jr.

Aside from the team silver, the Pinoys also won an individual bronze medal.

“This is our early Christmas gift to the Filipino people. We hope this victory will unite all the Filipino and support the memory games,” said De leon.

“This proves once again that the Filipino can be at par with the world’s best memory athletes. And with ample training and preparation, we can even become world champion,” added head coach Bernardino.

Powerhouse China took home the team gold while Mongolia captured the bronze medal in the event participated by memory athletes from the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Poland, Japan, Uzbekistan, South Africa, India, Hongkong, Singapore, Malaysia, Maldives and Indonesia with 121 competitors.

Results of the PH Team members:

— Johann Randall Abrina, the 29-year-old UP Sports Psychology graduate from Mandaluyong bagged the bronze medal in the Historical/Future Dates category.

— Mark Anthony Castaneda from Mandaluyong became the first Filipino Grandmaster of Memory. The 23-year-old Rizal Technological University Mandaluyong BS ECE graduate memorized a 1,140 digit numbers in an hour en route to his 1st grandmaster (GM) norm. He  memorized a deck of cards (equivalent to 52 playing cards) in 1 minute and 10 seconds in the speed card category for his 2nd GM norm and memorized 13 decks of cards (equivalent to 676 playing cards) in an hour to earn his third and final GM norm.

— Erwin Balines also from Mandaluyong City won 2 GM norms. The 23-year-old PUP-Manila BS ECE graduate memorized a 1,340 digit numbers in an hour for his first GM norm and memorized a deck of cards (equivalent to 52 playing cards) in 1 minute and 19 seconds in the speed card category for his 2nd GM norm.