Central Visayas rules PRISAA national meet

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Central Visayas bets held off a late flurry by Davao to emerge as the most dominant contingent at the close of the PRISAA Collegiate National Games at the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex here Thursday.

While no overall championship given in this meet, Region 7 athletes can claim bragging rights to being the winningest among the 16 delegations that competed in the Games with a haul of 70 golds, 53 silvers and 67 bronzes.

In a two-way battle between the two regions that wasn’t decided until the last competition – men’s basketball – the Region 9 performers settled for runner-up honors with a gold-silver-bronze medal haul of 66-59-42 in the sportsfest sponsored by Globe, Nature’s Spring mineral water, Zamboanga Apparel and Radio Mindanao Network.

Region 4-A spoiled Davao’s bid to rule the Games with a hard-earned 82-75 win over the Region 9 cagers to bag the championship.

Had the Davaoeños won, the five golds awarded for the event would have put them one up over Region 7 since team games golds are determined by the number of players on the playing field or court during a game.

Region 6 took third (58-59-79), Region 4-A fourth (58-43-47) and Region 5 fifth (13-12-23).

PRISAA national chairman Dr. Emmanuel Angeles was not present at the final day of the Games but issued a statement thanking Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat and the athletes and officials who took part in the six-day sports showcase.

“Once again, on behalf of the PRISAA national board, we would like to thank Mayor Lobregat and the city of Zamboanga for being gracious and hospitable hosts once again of the Games for the past six days,” Angeles said.

“We also would like to express our appreciation to all delegates for making the 2011 PRISAA Collegiate National Games a huge success, showing that the country’s premier sportsfest for collegiate athletes is very much alive,” he said.

Western Visayas, a soccer hotbed, nipped Region 9, 1-0, to capture the men’s football crown.

The Region 5 batters blasted Region 11, 12-2, to cop the men’s baseball championship.

On the other hand, Region 4-A stamped its class to sweep the men’s and women’s volleyball titles.

The Calabarzon male spikers subdued Western Visayas, 34-32, 25-21, 25-22, while their female counterparts topped Region XI, 22-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-16.

Region 9, on the other hand, scored a double kill in men’s and women’s beach volleyball and also took the sepak takraw team gold.