CV claims 5 more golds

Dumaguete City— Down to the last three days of competition, Region 7 is on track of achieving its modest goal in the 2013 Palarong Pambansa.

The athletes of the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) yesterday added five gold medals to their collection to firm up their hold of the fourth spot in the overall race.

A consistent fourth place finisher for the past several years, Region 7 intends to at least retain its spot in this year’s Palaro where it is the host region.

Region 7 increased its medal haul to nine golds, nine silvers and 12 bronzes.

In the partial tally as of 8 p.m. yesterday, powerhouse National Capital Region (NCR) still leads the pack with 44 golds, 25 silvers and 18 bronzes.

At second place was Region 6 with 15 golds, 10 silvers and 12 bronzes while in third spot was Region 3 with 11 golds, seven silvers and four bronzes.

Trailing Region 7 was Region 12 with four golds, seven silvers and five bronzes.

JINS DELIVER

At the forefront of Region 7’s productive performance were its taekwondo jins who won two golds.

Clement Tan snatched gold in the elementary boys taekwodo individual pomsae, while Charmaine Albaraccin ruled the elementary girls individual taekwondo pomsae.

The secondary boys tennis leaned on the heroics of Ed Adrian Parangan of St. Francis Academy-Balamban to win the team gold at the expense of Region 4-A.

John Michael Necessario prevailed in the first singles but Michael Wamar and Mikell Lauron lost in the doubles event, 6-8. The loss put Parangan in a must-win situation and he didn’t disappoint as he prevailed in the second singles, 8-5.

“He has been saving us. He played three deciding matches in the preliminaries and he delivered. I was really confident he would win it for us,” said Necessario of Parangan.

The 16-year-old Parangan is playing in the Palaro for only the second time. He competed in the 2009 edition of the annual meet but didn’t make it again.

“I kept on losing in the regional meet. I just continued training and I am so happy that I was able to return here and helped the team win,” said Parangan.

The team’s coach, Charisse Labastida, said the players exceeded her expectations.

“The players are from different schools and we only managed to practice together days before the competition. The field was tough so I was not that hopeful but the players worked hard and it paid off,” said Labastida.

CABALLES PICKS

SECOND GOLD

Stick fighter Maximo Caballes Jr. made another splash as he bagged his second gold in the meet.

After winning gold in the secondary boys Anyo individual single weapon event, Caballes added the double identical weapon gold yesterday.

Also chipping in gold was the elementary boys table tennis team composed of Alvin Credo, Lloyd Kyle Lebosada, Armiel Jon Aroma and Jayvee Asong.

Meanwhile, the secondary boys tennis team of Francis Acoso, Vence Flores, Jerome Impuesto and Jean Phillippe Honoridez donated silver.

Swimmer Rian Marco Tiro snagged silver in the elementary boys 50LC breaststroke as well as Sophia Gravador in 50LC meter breaststroke.

Region 7 got bronze in the elementary boys swimming 4×50 medley relay courtesy of Matthew Magale, Val Andrew Chiu, Rian Marco Tirol and Federic Yuan Chiongbian. The team also pocketed bronze in 200 LC medley relay.

Enrico Avila ended Region 7’s medal drought in athletics as he snagged bronze in the elementary boys 100-M dash. The other bronze was delivered by the elementary boys tennis team of Francis Lambayan, Francis Hidalgo, Marc Nicole Suson and Fhad Kenneth Banico.