SWEET GOLD. Ten-year-old Paglaya de Villa is flanked by his vanquished opponents in the under 50 kilograms of the judo competition of the Batang Pinoy national finals Thursday in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. The grade 4 is following the footsteps of elder sister Pagibig, who is a member of the University of the Philippines-Diliman's judo team, the defending UAAP champion, and an individual bronze medalist of the same league. (Photo courtesy of Marilen de Villa)
BAGUIO CITY – With medals yet to be won from 12 events, five of which the defending champion Baguio could dominate, chances are the highland players will go home singing like the band Queen that they are the champion.
“Malaki ang chance natin (We have a big chance),” Baguio city sports coordinator Gaudencio Gonzales told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a conversation over Messenger on Friday as he skims from one venue to another to check on city athletes still vying for medals in the Batang Pinoy national finals in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
Gonzales has so far logged a 48-36-51(gold-silver-bronze) production as of Thursday night, way ahead of the Philippine Sports Commission’s latest official tally as of Friday 2 p.m. of 40-31-42.
The PSC tally shows Davao City at second with 27-22-29, followed by Quezon City (22-22-21) and Cebu City (21-22-22) at third and fifth, respectively.
Gonzales expects, unless the unthinkable happens, around 10 to 15 gold medals for Baguio coming from combat sports taekwondo, judo, wrestling, boxing, and archery.
Baguio sent a lean team and has yet seen action of only 18 of the 31 events.
Combat sports has again boosted Baguio’s campaign in the Batang Pinoy with 40 of the 48 gold medals won.
Wushu had the biggest contribution with 14 golds after the two won by sanda also on Thursday, for a delegate best 14-7-4 production. The Baguio wushu team is also the team champion.
Muay thai wrapped up early with a 10-4-3 haul.
Judo is the third-best producer with a 7-6-7 output including the Thursday gold heave of Paglaya de Villa in the under 50-kilogram division.
Taekwondo has so far produced a 5-6-7 haul, while the pencak silat squad wound up with a surprising 3-0-3 output.
Arnis managed a 1-5-9 effort and last year’s top producer, wrestling, has one gold to show, however, with games yet to be decided.
Archery is the most productive non-combat event with 6-6-8 haul and still counting.
Other contributors to Baguio’s medal haul are: athletics (1-2-0); weightlifting (0-1-2); karatedo (0-0-2), badminton (0-0-2); swimming (0-0-1) and futsal (0-0-1). (PNA)
