MANILA — Aldrener Igot continues to dominate the archery competition at the Batang Pinoy National Finals after scoring his sixth gold medal at the Ramon Mitra Sports Complex in Puerto Princesa City on Thursday.
This time, the Cebu City-based Igot had to deal a heartbreaker to a representative of the home team, beating Nathaniel Carlos, 6-2, in the cub boy’s Olympic round final.
Igot has a chance to become the all-time most bemedaled athlete of the annual youth sports meet in the penultimate day of the games on Friday as he will join Khalil Jusper Abella and Kien Zhyron Torreon in the men's team and Densin Shane Dinopol in the mixed team competitions.
"If there’s a chance I can win eight, I will go for it," said the 14-year-old Igot.
Dinopol, meanwhile, has vindication as extra motivation for her in the mixed team event as she fell to Naina Tagle of Dumaguete in the girls' final.
Tagle now has five gold medals, joining an elite club that has Igot, Mark Dula, Aubrey Tom, and John Talosig in it.
Magvrylle Matchino of Laguna is knocking on the door of the five-gold club as he nabbed three golds to hike her total to four.
Matchino led the way in Team Laguna's conquest of the girls 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays while ruling the 2000-meter steeplechase to add to her gold in the 1500-meter run.
She had a chance to go for five, but she settled for the silver in the 800-meter run.
Meanwhile, Baguio has taken the top spot in the medal race and is now pulling away from the pack.
As of 6 p.m., the defending overall champ now has 21 golds anchored by the boys 1500-meter run win by Hussein Lorana and three golds in judo, 18 silvers, and 29 bronzes.
Cebu City, aside from the Igot gold, could only get three more and slipped to second place with 16 golds, 19 silvers, and 20 bronzes.
Quezon City (14 silvers and 11 bronzes) and Davao City (12 silvers and 16 bronzes) are actually tied with Cebu City on golds as they too have 16 golds each.
With a lot of finals taking place on Friday, this could decide which team will take the overall championship of the national finals. (PNA)
