Cebu Sports Blog by John Pages

At 80-year-old club, a 19-year-old tiger

Eight days ago, two of the best golfers of the 1928-founded Cebu Country Club—and, quite possibly, the entire Cebu—stood at the footsteps of Hole No.1, shook hands, plunged their tees on the grass, then swung.

Eric Deen, 43, loomed tall as a four-time champion. He’s the Dean of Golfers. From 1997 to 1999, then again in 2004, he hoisted the trophy above his shoulders. And, once again, he was on familiar ground: the finals of the 2007 Club Championship.

His opponent? Twenty four years his junior: Charles Hong. “Chuckie,” as he’s called by everyone, is only 19 years old yet, for three years straight, he’s been in the Class A finals. Two years ago, he beat fellow jun-golfer Jojo Tiongko in a thrilling 37th hole, sudden-death playoff to become one of the youngest-ever champions in Cebu Country Club history. He was 17. Last year, he entered the finals again—but lost to arguably the best player to ever set foot in the club, Montito Garcia.

Everywhere in Hong Kong, it’s Beijing

When you stroll along the world-famous harbor of Hong Kong, as I did with my family last weekend, your eyes will stare at familiar sights: dozens of high-rise metallic buildings that touch the clouds, green Star Ferry boats that transport 26 million people each year, and thousands of tourists that line the seafront posing for picturesque moments. But, there’s one new sight that was never visible in the past six weeks or 12 months or 24 years that now envelopes Hong Kong: The Olympics.

Pasted on one side of an imposing building along the harbor are five giant Olympic rings, each bearing an Olympic color: blue, yellow, black, green and red. At night, these lighted rings are visible from almost any part of Hong Kong—even from the faraway tourist attraction called The Peak.

A Cebu gem, he shines in RP sports

His name is Jean Henri Lhuillier. He used to own the Cebu Gems but no longer spends tens of millions on basketball. He is, by heart, Cebuano though he’s lived most of his adult life in Manila. His strongest passion—next to family and business—is this six-letter word that has implanted the name “Lhuillier” among the minds of the 81 million who reside in this country: Sports.

“I speak better Cebuano than Tagalog,” Jean Henri told me last Wednesday afternoon as we stood together to watch Johnny Arcilla and PJ Tierro, RP’s top tennis stars, play doubles at the Baseline Recreation Center.

JHL, to put it mildly, is devoted to sports. He’s watched the French and Australian Opens. During college in America, for two years he played the highest-level Division I varsity tennis. Plus, we know that his company bankrolled the week-long Cebuana Lhuillier Men’s Open that concluded yesterday.

Cebuana Lhuillier Men’s Open Fellowship Dinner

Jandrick de Castro, Johnny Arcilla, April Toledo, Babaw Tiongco, Niño Alcantara and Joseph Arcilla

Cebuana Lhuillier in Cebu: A perfect doubles team

It doesn’t matter if you play the sport or not. It’s unimportant if you’ve never swung a backhand in your life and only watch tennis and Rafael Nadal on Star Sports. What’s essential is this: This whole week until Sunday, you have a chance to witness a rare occurrence in Cebu. Who, where, what am I talking about?

RP’s best tennis stars. Live! Here in Cebu City. Joining the Cebuana Lhuillier Men’s Open.

Thanks to Jean Henri Lhuillier, an ace businessman with an unrivaled love for sports, we are witnesses to this major sports event. Jean Henri, the president of the Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines, is a former U.S. college Division-I varsity tennis player who continues to swing forehands until today. In fact, yesterday at 5:30 p.m. with partner Jun Toledo, he joined his own event and played doubles.

Cebuana to mesmerize Cebuanos

It’s starting today and finishing next Sunday. It’s one vs. one, two vs. two. There’s singles. Doubles. Fists will be pumped, arms raised, racquets thrown, shouts will echo the arena. There’ll be 36-year-olds competing against 15-year-olds with 82-year-olds applauding. It’s an event that Cebu has not witnessed in years. The last time? In Cebu City? A looooooong time ago. But today, tomorrow, Tuesday, and onwards until May 11, in full display will be yellow balls and white clouds and red racquets and brown clay.

She’s a Cebuana. She is not a singer or a sexy temptress. She, in fact, is a business, a company—and one of the largest in it’s industry.

She is Cebuana Lhuillier. And for the next eight days, Cebuanos will get a chance to sit fascinated, stand spellbound and clap riveted to an event that’s a long time coming: the top men’s tennis players fighting in Cebu to see who’s tops in the Philippines.

Busy, sporty weekend awaits Cebu

Where will you be? Who will you watch? Which sport will you gaze at? Golf? Kart racing? Tennis? Mountain-biking? Or how about observing how horses gallop, sprint and prance during the Rodeo Show in Mandaue?

This long May 1 to 4 weekend, from what I’ve seen, will be one of the most crowded of sporting weekends….

Summer

Why ask your children to play sports this April and May? The reasons are countless. Here are eight:

1.) Pulls them away from Nickelodeon, YouTube, the PS3, Xbox360 and the Nintendo Wii.

2.) They’ll meet new friends. Maybe even find a girlfriend!

3.) You, as parents, bond with them. If, for example, you’ve long been yearning to try wall-climbing, then today’s the best day. You and your child, side-by-side, will make a perfect pair. You’ll climb together, stare at each other’s eyes, laugh, your hands may get clammy and wet, you might fall—but, best of all, you bond. Believe me: your child will love you more.

Smart/Butch Bacani Tennis Camp starts tomorrow

All racquets and yellow balls lead to Casino Espanol de Cebu tomorrow when the biggest clinic in Cebu tennis aces off. Last year at the Cebu Country Club, nearly 200 children and adults joined. This year? Since no charges will be assessed the participants—yes, let me repeat that: This is a free tennis clinic—then I expect just as many, if not more, to swing volleys and smother lobs with smashes.

Butch Bacani, as I’ve written on this box last year and last week, is one of the top tennis coaches of our 7,107 islands. He is smart (a U.P. Economics graduate who ventured into the corporate world before he turned full-time into tennis). He is rich in experience (a former Davis Cup captain, he’s trained in America, Australia and many other countries around the globe). He is, best of all, dedicated and passionate. I saw with my own eyes how he spent days and hours and weeks under the scorching, burning summer heat from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., teaching, imparting the ABCs of Maria Sharapova’s game, motivating little kindergarten students as young as five to grip a racquet and swing the fluffy ball.

Steve Ferraren: To win, one must lose

He weighed 228 lbs. “When I climbed stairs, I panted” he told me. “When I rode at the backseat of a car, I’d fall asleep. I was forever tired…”

Steve Ferraren was 35 years old. His waistline was older: nearly 40 inches. And the year was 2001. But back in college, when Steve used to exercise, he stood at 145 lbs. It was only after he graduated, joined the corporate world at Unilab and, next, Petron, and when he hadn’t sweated in years that his weight ballooned.

Then, tragedy struck: His father, Vicente, passed away in 2002 due to complications from diabetes. And when Steve asked the doctors, he was told a painful truth: Diabetes was prevalent in both his parents’ families and, if he didn’t lose weight and indulge in sports… the consequences might be catastrophic.

“And so that year, in 2002,” he said, “I was invited by friends to Abellana (Sports Center). I joined them. My maximum running distance? Ha-ha. It was half-a-round at the oval. I couldn’t do more.”