Nining rules QC Palaro table tennis

Rachel Nining of Barangay Damayan downed Emely Dela of Pasong Tamo, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6, yesterday to top the 18-and-below division in the table tennis event of the first Quezon City Palarong Panglungsod at the Amoranto Stadium.

Nining, a 15-year-old incoming third year student of Sergio Osmena Sr. High School, needed just less than 30 minutes to dispose of the 16-year-old Dela and cop the gold medal in this event organized by Quezon City Mayor Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte and Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista.

"Ang gusto ko lang talaga maglaro," said Nining, who learned the game from neighbor Dante Bajet. "Kaya nga masaya ako nang nanalo ako."

Shahed Evangelista of Pasong Tamo clinched the silver medal with nine match points, beating teammate Dela and 13-year-old Ma. Luisa Jocaro of New Era University, who both settled for the bronze medal.

Roxas District’s Rovinic Jan Dumlao and Project 6’s Jeffrey Bautista hurdled their respective assignments to barge into the finals of the boys’ 18-and-under category.

Dumlao, 15, turned back a hard-fighting Jaypee Landicho of Project 6, 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, while the 16-year-old Bautista downed Paul Tuboro of Roxas, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10, to set up a title showdown.

Meanwhile, action shifts to high gear as swimming and athletics kick off today at separate venues in Amoranto.

Three gold medals would be up for grabs in the track and field event while swimming stakes more than 30 gold medals.

To be contested today are gold medals in the girls’ long jump and baseball throw and boys’ shot put while participants in the 100-meter and 400-m dash boys and girls compete for slots in the finals of the same event starting tomorrow.

This two-week meet is being done to promote physical fitness and discover, tap and train potential athletes. Scholarship grants would also be given away to winners.