Manila cager breaks world dribbling mark

Erwin Evangelista outdribbled Cebu’s Rey Gubaton in a marathon duel, bouncing a basketball for 45 hours and 22 minutes and eclipsing the 26-hour, 40-minute feat set by former Kenyan national cager Joseph Odhiambo in the Guinness World Records during the NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston last February.

The 21-year-old Evangelista, from Manila, was among the 100 top finishers from elimination legs Metro Manila, Davao, Cebu and Dagupan who took part in the Astig Revicon Guinness Dribbling Challenge finals held at the Pasay Sports Complex over the weekend.

The finalists started dribbling at 4 p.m. last Oct. 28. By 6:40 p.m. the next day, 55 bets stayed in the hunt, matching the existing Guinness World Record for the longest dribbling period held by Odhiambo.

By 12:33 p.m. on Oct. 30, only Evangelista and Gubaton survived the grueling challenge with the former outlasting the latter by 1:22 p.m. after dribbling for a total of 45 hours, 22 minutes.

Evangelista’s feat will be submitted to the Guinness World Records to make it official.

Alex Panlilio, assistant vice-president for Consumer Health of the sponsoring United Laboratories (Unilab), said Evangelista’s feat was exciting but was not surprising.

"When our Revicon Forte team was planning for this event, we were optimistic that a Filipino is going to break the Guinness World Record for the longest dribbling period," said Panlilio.

"After all, we are a nation known for our tenacity and endurance. I have always believed Filipinos have strength that does not falter, or lakas na di umaayaw," he added.

Organized by PurePlay, the Astig Revicon Guinness Dribbling Challenge staged a series of eliminations to find the 100 qualifiers. The first leg was held in Davao where 15 dribblers qualified for the finals with the next staged at the Olympic Badminton Club on Rodriguez Avenue where 55 qualifiers were chosen.

The University of Pangasinan hosted the next leg where 15 more qualified while another 15 advanced to the finals during the last elims at the University of San Carlos, Cebu, on Oct. 15.