TRIPLE TREAT
Davao City nails 3 golds in athletics
Women’s chess team sweeps blitz event
DAVAO City nailed three gold medals in athletics as the women’s chess team contributed one gold on Day 1 of the Philippine Olympic Committee-Philippine Sports Commission (POC-PSC) National Games Mindanao Qualifying in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur as of yesterday presstime.
Adrian Linao and Langie Mae Meder topped the men’s senior shot put and women’s senior 100-meter dash, respectively, to lead the city’s medal haul at the start of the athletics competition.
University of Mindanao (UM) Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) graduate Linao, a farmer’s son from Tugbok, heaved the iron ball to a distance of 12.16 meters, besting Kent Defensor Nepoceno of General Santos City (11.22m) and Ebrahim Esmael (9.93m) who took the silver and bronze, respectively.
Meder, for her part, ran unopposed in her event.
Athletics coach Harrish Ratag, in a phone interview with Sun.Star Davao, said: “Duha man ka categories gud diay diri sa PNG, dunay seniors ug juniors. Sa babae ganina wala gyud kalumba si Meder sa seniors. Sa juniors hinuon mas daghan ang entries (There are categories here in the PNG athletics, seniors and juniors. In senior women’s 100 Meder had no rivals. But the juniors division has more entries).”
BIMP-Eaga Friendship Games 2014 campaigner Joppe Sabitan gave Davao City its third gold late in the afternoon, clocking 55:01 seconds in the men’s 400m while teammate Glein Payac (55:87) pocketed the silver and Cotabato City’s King Abedin Kali (59:65) got the bronze.
Over at the Deped Teachers Center, UM’s Exiquila Apao clinched the women’s blitz chess gold while Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC) mainstay Janes Hitfield Caingles and UM’s Zsuzsa Grace Tabudlong copped the silver and bronze, respectively.
In special games, Jobert Lumanta annexed the silver while Antonio Español salvaged the bronze in ortho chess event.