Last Thursday, the La Salle basketball squad beat Ateneo, 70-69, for the No.2 spot in the UAAP Championships. That was basketball. At the Araneta Coliseum.
Golf? In Cebu? For the past five years, Ateneo has trounced La Salle. Ever since the Ateneo-La Salle Golf Classic was established—never mind the golf course colored all-green—Green has lost to Blue.
Not anymore. Not this year. Not when I hear fellow Lasallians say, “Nobody beats us six in a row!”
So finally, Green wins on the greens. Last Wednesday and Thursday, a total of 67 players wearing only two T-shirt colors strolled on the Cebu Country Club lawns. In the end, despite losing the Match Play category (6 points to 18), La Salle won a total of 67 points versus 33 for Ateneo.
Leading the charge for La Salle was team captain (and Medellin vice mayor) Nino Bascon. The heroes? Here are the Lasallians who scored… Class A: Ernesto Siguan, Wendell Yap, and William Hong. Class B: Josephine Siguan, Michael Dino and Rey Dira. Class C: Brucedy Chan, Jojo Nazareno, Alex Dytian, and Albuen Bejar. In the Open Division: Miko Alejandro and Lora Roberto. From Ateneo, those who scored points included… Class A: Jovi Neri. Class B: Reynaldo Pelayo. Open Division: Lovelyn Guio-Guio and Jet-Jet Plete.
Back to the UAAP: This afternoon, Ateneo plays UST at the Araneta Coliseum. Let’s cheer for Ateneo. Because if they win and we face them on Thursday, once more it’s a battle of rivals. No two teams elicit more passion than Blue and Green.
DANCESPORT. Imagine 600 dancers inside one ballroom. That’s what happened yesterday—from 8 a.m. until the late hours of the night—when the 2nd International Dancesport Federation and the Cebu Open Dancesport Championship took place at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel ballroom. I met Edward Hayco, the top honcho of this sport, last Thursday night at the Waterfront lobby and he looked excited. With the popularity of dancesport, Ed stands proud.
CHESS. The other night, my wife Jasmin and I were at the CICC to watch the Apo Hiking Society concert. At the opposite end of the ballroom sat dozens of tables. Chess boards littered on top of them. I walked closer and saw Cebuano IM Richard Bitoon playing IM Rui Wang from China. Their game started at 3 p.m. and, would you believe, my watch read 8:15 p.m. They were still playing! Who said chess—because you sit through the entire game—was easy? If you’re a fan, don’t miss the 6th Asian Individual Chess Championship. It’s open for free.
DAVIS CUP. You probably didn’t know this but our RP Davis Cup team is in Kuwait. As of Friday night, we’re up 2-0. Just one more win (it’s best of five) and we’re headed for the Davis Cup Group 1, which means we’re close to entering the elite 16-nation World Group. Cecil Mamiit and Eric Taino, our two Fil-Ams, with PJ Tierro and Johnny Arcilla, are carrying the RP flag in Kuwait.
