Lapu-Lapu City is adding more bite to its claim as the country’s rising sports tourism destination by hosting another sporting extravaganza this Friday in line with its 50th Charter Day celebration.
Harry Radaza, the city’s Tourism Sports chairman said the city will stage almost a dozen activities including four sporting events to be held at the Millennium Park which is under the Marcelo Fernan Bridge.
The sporting events include chess, table tennis, volleyball and folding bike race.
Last April, the city hosted the highly successful Davis Cup Asia-Oceana tie between the Philippines and Japan.
The chess tournament will open with a blitz exhibition game between US-based International Master Enrico Sevillano against National Master Erik Gloria.
Sevillano is a former fourth-placer in the world juniors and is an Asian juniors champion while Gloria, a native of Lapu-lapu City who is now based in Singapore as a chess instructor, is a member of the RP Chess Team which placed 7th in the World Chess Olympiad, the highest ever in the country’s history.
The chess tournament is organized by Poblacion councilor Janggo Roma and features men’s open, 15-under and 12-under categories with cash and trophies going to the winners.
Meanwhile, around a hundred folding bikers are expected to join the race organized by the Tindak Bisdak-Cebu Folding Bikers Society headed by president Allan Salazar.
The competition is a circuit race on a 1.5-kilometer track at the Millennium Park at starting at 1 p.m. Registration is free.
“This is not a common circuit race because the racers will have to run for 300 meters first to get to their bikes and go straight to the track for the real race,” Salazar said.
The event will have six categories depending on the wheel size of the bikes and will limit the number of participants to 15 for every category. Cash and trophies await the winners.
The volleyball tournament is still being planned and will possibly be held elsewhere due to the park’s limited space while the table tennis competition will be played in the park’s covered area.