NARBOADA: THE SILENT BUT DEADLY GOLD WINNER

Once an introvert, Janine Narboada comes out of her shell after joining and racking up medals in karatedo University of Cebu earns 9 gold medals in karatedo at start of Cebu City Olympics

Janine Narboada took up karatedo for personality development, and after three years she not only collected medals but more importantly, she has overcome her being an introvert.

The Grade 5pupil of Talamban Elementary School took the spotlight after winning two gold medals in the karatedo event of the 27th Cebu City Olympics at the Robinsons’ Galleria yesterday.

Narboada bagged a gold medal in the individual girls’ Grade 5-6 kata and individual girls’ kumite.

Less than a week ago, the 10-year-old Narboada of Sports Karatedo Organization also won a gold medal and two silvers in the 2017 Batang Pinoy Visayas Leg in Dumaguete City.

“She was an introvert before so we decided to expose her to sports. Since I was a former karatedo athlete, I encouraged her to join karatedo,” Narboada’s aunt Lynie told SunStar Cebu in an interview yesterday.

“She barely talked to her teammates when she started in 2014. She started to interact more when we started to join out- of-town competitions,” she added.

Narboada, the elementary girls’ most outstanding athlete in the 22nd Milo Little Olympics Visayas Leg, said that she’s happy with the string of wins and will continue to strive to improve her craft.

The defending champion University of Cebu (UC), on the other hand, flexed its muscles in the taekwondo kyurugi event, racking up nine gold medals in the secondary level.

The boys’ secondary gold medalists for UC were Warren Ian Rama in the finweight division, Wendil Jay Rama in the flyweight class, Dineson Wilres Cañeda in the featherweight, Sal Luis Estrada in the welterweight and Clint Morales in the openweight.

The secondary girls’ accounted for gold medal were Royda Jane Ranile in the flyweight, Mayn Yengele Coran in the featherweight, Christine Villasor in the welterweight and Sophia Alexandra Labra in the openweight.

“Our performance is excellent in sparring (kyorugi). The training is always continuous for our players. We will be ready for Cviraa (Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association),” said UC’s coach Michael Angelo Realista.

UC now leads the secondary level with unofficial tally of nine gold medals followed by University of San Carlos-Basic Education Department (USC-Bed) with seven gold medals.

USC-Bed won five gold medals in the poomsae event last Saturday before Charles David Labiste and Cha Ynah Labiste added one each in the boys’ and girls’ secondary bantamweight kyorugi event.

9 The number of gold medals the University of Cebu won on the first day of competitions of the Cebu City Olympics

SUNSTAR FOTO / RUEL ROSELLO KICKSTART. Dineson Wille Caneda of UC (blue jacket) takes down his opponent during the elimination round of Cebu City Olympic Taekwando event. Several events were held prior to today’s formal opening of the sporting meet.

SUNSTAR FOTO/ RICHIEL CHAVEZ OUT OF HER SHELL. Janine Narboada is an example of how sports can change one’s personality. Her guardians believe she overcame her shyness once she started competing in karatedo competitions. She won two gold medals in yesterday’s start of the Cebu...