Traffic to China

XIAMEN, China – This sprawling, sunny city sees foreigners of every description flooding in daily to do big-volume business. Factories are constantly looking for clients to order anything from electronics to sporting equipment to toys, which they can supply on the cheap.

While Shanghai has been a very popular destination in recent years, even hosting the first NBA China Games and serving as the setting for Hollywood movies, other cities are also now on the international map.

Xiamen is also the nearest entry point from the Philippines, and where one can catch a lot of Filipino sportsmen and athletes making their way into the Middle Kingdom to either train or compete.

This writer chanced upon 2007 World Pool Championship runner-up Roberto Gomez on the return flight from this progressive city. The 29-year-old former champion of the 2007 Battle of Scandinavia 9-Ball Championship was exhausted, as he had spent the last six days teaching and doing exhibition matches here.

“It was tiring, since a lot of people here know about Filipino billiards players,” admitted Gomez, who lost the World Pool Championship to Englishman Daryl Peach at the Araneta Coliseum in November of last year. “A lot of them really want to learn the game.”

China is an exploding market for Filipino cue artists to ply their trade. Almost twenty years ago, Japan started “importing” Filipino pool players – some for as long as six months – to siphon off their talent and learn from the best. This brain drain has resulted in Japan steadily improving in international competition, while Filipinos pocketed dollars in the exchange.

Starting Nov. 1, the World Boxing Council will hold its convention in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. It will also be the scene of an important accomplishment for the Philippines, as international referee (and decades-long Philippine resident) Bruce McTavish, will serve as chairman of the ring officials seminar, with Games and Amusements Board boxing chief and medical officer Dr. Nasser Cruz on his panel.

“This will be a great honor for the Philippines. We are very proud to be  conducting this seminar on behalf of the WBC,” McTavish told The Star in a text message.”

In preparation for the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in Manila, about 300 Filipino athletes spent months training in various disciplines in Guangzhou province. The isolated setting in a quiet environment kept them shielded from the politics afflicting many sports in the country, and helped them focus on achieving the goal of making the country overall champion.

But even on a smaller scale, China is attracting talent from the Philippines. On the way to Xiamen, we were on the same flight as a group of grade school and high school badminton players from St. Gabriel International School. They were on their way to a competition at the Manila Xiamen International School, a sister school. For many of the kids, it was their first trip out of the country. On the way back, we rode with some volleyball players of Brent School.

Meanwhile, nearby Yiwu is also a distribution point for wholesalers and manufacturers of all sorts of sports equipment, and although they aren’t yet able to mimic the top of the line, high-tech shoes and apparel, everything else is fair game. Copies of well-known international brands abound, side by side with generic, unknown and even misspelled brand names. Basketballs and related accessories far outnumber other sports.

All in all, it was an eye-opening trip that showed how much sports traffic comes from the Philippines under the radar to China.

(Editor’s Note: Bill Velasco’s column ‘The Game Of My Life’ was to appear yesterday but was delayed in transit.)