The future
IT’S the second time that I will be filling in for Mang Nars Padilla, who early Friday morning called me up just to ask me if I could do his column. So here goes. After a roller coaster 2017 for Team Lakay where its most popular fighter, Eduard Folayang lost his lightweight belt, Geje Eustaquio redeemed the country’s top mixed martial arts team by winning the interim flyweight crown by outpointing Kairat Akhmetov last month.
It was a stellar performance for Team Lakay after Joshua Pacio won with a rear naked choke win on Lan Ming Qiang in just barely four minutes of action. Edward Kelly, meanwhile, recorded a 21 second knockout win on Meas Meul. Those wins made up for April Osenio first round loss to Jomary Torres in just 40 seconds of action.
Still, it was a spectacular year opener for Lakay which is expected to scale more heights this year including a comeback win for Folayang.
Folayang is probably the most resilient fighters among Mark Sangiao’s wards. At 17, he failed to get a medal in 2001 South East Asian Games where Sangiao won a gold. The four man team sent by the Wushu Federation took home two golds and a silver with Jearome Calica accounting for the second gold and Rexel Nganhayna bringing home the silver.
After nearly a year of absence, Folayang came back stronger, and wiser, as he took the gold in the 2003 SEAG in Ho Chi Minh City. He repeated in the Bacolod hosted SEAG in 2005, and after missing on two editions when his weight category of 70 kilos was scrapped, he went home with his third gold in 2011 in Djakarta.
Folayang has won a silver and bronze medals in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha and 2002 Busan Games, while in 2005, he got a gold in the World Wushu Championships.
Now, he is called MMA’s Manny Pacquiao that even at 33, Folayang is still god for many fights.
He is expected to hit the One Championship cage on April.
Last December, I wrote about the University of the Cordilleras High School girls volleyball team and how they overcame the talent drain that saw them rise like the phoenix.
They lost in three sets to Apayao’s Pudtol Vocational High School in the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association early this month. But they came back strong last weekend to hand the visiting Apayao six a five set thriller that will send them to the national finals on March 7-8 in Manila.
The veterans came to the rescue during the finals with top attacker Aice Parrocha sealing the victory for the Baby Jaguars with her two kills and winners in the fifth set.The 5’3” daughter of former University of Baguio Cardinal men’s basketball team Bart had lots of help from Rosemar Borlongan, the aspiring beauty queen and ramp model, who helped Parrocha man the middle.