Regina seizes 2nd place

Regina Catherine Quiñanola won her last two rounds to salvage a second place finish in the Girls Under-14 category as the 2017 National Age Group Chess Championships at the Robinson’s Galleria-Cebu co-presented by the Cebu Provincial Government at Marty Pimentel yesterday.

Quiñanola, Laila Camel Nadera of Girls U18 and Jave Mareck Peteros of the Boys U14 were the other Cebu bets who finished second in the eight-day chess festival.

After a rollercoaster ride on the last three days of action that saw her dropping as far as fifth place, the Palarong Pambansa gold medal winner Quiñanola mustered all her strength to beat Oryza Reign Repato, aided by the loss of Blanche Ellyz Bongato to eventual champion Irish Yngayo in the final round to complete her comeback.

Yngayo finished the 15-round competition with 12.5 points, Quiñanola earned a total of 10.5 points, and Bongato settled for 3rd place with 10 points.

Another Cebu bet, Alphecca Gonzales, made the top 5 finish with her 9.5 points.

Jerish John Velarde was primed for the third place finish in the Boys U-12 class, but he became careless in the middle game and eventually lost to Reign Joshua Vinuya in the final round, dropping to 5th place in the final ranking.

This is the first time Velarde failed to make the top 3 and the automatic slot to the Asean + competition. He could travel with the Philippine squad, though, but he has to spend for the cost of travel and participation.

Velarde finished with 9.0 points out of possible 15 points.

The other Cebuano players who made the top 10 in their respective categories were Jethro Esplanada (8th) and Allan Pason (9th) in the Boys U20, Adrian Basilgo (10th) U18, Duane Borgonia (6th) and Chris Aldritz Pondoyo (7th) U16, Joshua Villaran (9th) U14, John Lester Belano (7th) U12, Dwayne Vi n Abellana (10th) U10 and Art Solomon Villaran (7th) U8. /