A great week for sports

It has been a great week for sports.

“Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona became RP’s youngest – at 19 – and newest world boxing champion. Sonsona claimed the WBO junior bantamweight title with a workmanlike UD win over Jose “Carita” Lopez of Puerto Rico in Ontario Canada.

The win by Sonsona started what could be another boxing rivalry between the Philippines and Puerto Rico. The score is currently 1-0 in RP’s favor. Could Manny Pacquiao make it 2-0 when he fights Miguel Cotto in November?

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Efren “Bata” Reyes and Django Bustamante won the 2009 World Pool Championships by whipping the German duo of Ralf Soquet and Thorsten Hohman. This is Bata and Django’s second World Pool crown. They first won in 2006. The win over the Germans was a brilliant finish. The Germans where leading 9-7 after Bata and Django lost rack 16. The compadres, however, hit back by winning four racks, with Bata pocketing the 9 ball in rack 20 for the win. Earlier, the Germans beat Ronnie Alcano and Dennis Orcullo to prevent an All-Pinoy final.

It’s about time for Bata to shine. I couldn’t remember the last time the Magician won!

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The University of San Carlos is taking the Milo Little Olympics by storm. The Carolinians are leading the battle for the overall championship with 77.5 points. Perennial champion the University of Cebu is a far second with 39.25 points. Incidentally, this is the year Milo switched its scoring system from medal count to point system. We will know after this weekend if USC is for real or UC could come back.

Swimmer Loren Dale Echavez led USC’s onslaught by making waves in the pool. Echavez won five golds for USC and snatched one of the coveted “Most Outstanding Athlete” awards.

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The University of Southern Philippines (USPF) Baby Panthers finally won a game in this year’s CESAFI basketball tournament. Gabby Malagar reported that the squad, while still trying to correct its end-game mistakes, was able to squeeze an OT win over the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) Wildkittens.

Robert “Barkley” Miñoza, a 17-year-old reserve, should be happy now. He has been reporting to me, during lulls in seminary classes at home, the team’s woes. He said the team doesn’t know how to finish a game allowing the other teams to escape. I hope this will break the ice for USPF. A losing squad usually bounces, to start a streak, after it has tasted the trill of victory.

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Tonight the NBA Generations team goes up against the PBA Legends in an exhibition game at the Araneta Coliseum.

Six-time MVP Kareem Abdul Jabbar, now 62 years old, leads the NBA team that includes Robert Horry, Dominique Wilkins, Vlade Divac, Tim Hardaway and D-League standouts Derrick Dial, Marcus Habbard, Chris Ellis, Lanny Smith, Billy Thomas and Russell Robinson.

Kareem won’t suit up but will help coach the NBA team when they play local hoops legends Alvin Patrimonio, Allan Caidic, Benjie Paras, Kenneth Duremdes and Ronnie Magsanoc. The reinforcements are Willie Miller, Arwind Santos, Asi Taulava, Dondon Hontiveros, Marc Pingris, Wynne Arboleda, Jy-R Reyes, Joseph Yeo, Enrico Villanueva and Sonny Thoss.

I won’t be surprised if the Big Dome rocks with such an explosive cast.

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Cebuanos have to wait until Monday, Sept 14 for their version of an explosive basketball exhibition game. I’m referring to the clash between Purefoods and the Cebu Niños at the Cebu Coliseum. Unlike the other teams that recently visited Cebu without some of their standouts, the Hotdogs will be in full force. The team will have its teambuilding activity in one of the resorts in Mactan over the weekend, so it will be fresh and ready for the dangerous Niños.

An e-mail I received from Rise Above Foundation, organizers of the event, disclosed that James Yap and another Purefoods player will grace the press conference at the Old Spaghetti House in SM on Sept 13 and will be available for “meet and greet” activity with fans.

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